APHIS to Delay Enforcement of New Lacey Act Import Declaration Requirements

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is no longer planning to begin Oct. 1 enforcement of Lacey Act import declaration requirements on 29 new tariff lines, the agency announced recently in an email. The delay “will give the trade community time to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for this change,” it said. The agency said in March it planned to implement the sixth phase of Lacey Act import requirements in October (see 2003300011).

The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America highlighted the delay in an Aug. 17 notice to members. “NCBFAA and other stakeholders expressed concern about both the scope of the Phase VI products and the timing of the implementation in discussions with the agency and in written comments,” the NCBFAA said. The agency “will publish a Federal Register notice in the coming weeks to delay implementation,” APHIS said.

Products that were to be newly covered by the Lacey Act requirements include essential oils in chapter 33; trunks, cases and suitcases in chapter 42; oriented strand board and wooden containers and pallets in chapter 44; musical instruments in chapter 92; and monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles of wood in chapter 96.