APHIS Allows Full Lacey Act Filing in ACE

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow full filing of Lacey Act declarations through the Automated Commercial Environment “effective immediately,” it said on Jan. 22 (here). “APHIS and CBP are confident that the system is now ready for full Lacey Act integration based on the sustained success of LAP’s pilot project, which has experienced no data or system errors,” said APHIS. “APHIS has determined that its information technology (IT) infrastructure is sufficiently robust to handle the expected user activity, and the Agency will continue to expand its IT capabilities through an upgrade this summer.” Filers may continue to use the Automated Commercial System to submit Lacey Act declarations until Feb. 28, said APHIS. “We encourage all filers to use this time to test their filing systems in ACE for Lacey Act declarations.”