The Department of Agriculture has issued a reminder that importers who import items that contain plant products, but who do not currently file a Lacey Act import declaration for those goods, will likely need to start doing so beginning Dec. 1 As of that date USDA will implement phase VII of the Lacey Act provisions, which will require import declarations for hundreds of additional items, including industrial or medicinal plants, handbags, plywood, laminated wood, tools, matches with natural wood stems, products of natural cork, products of bamboo and rattan, footwear, umbrellas, tools, machinery, vehicles, clocks and watches, musical instruments, firearms, furniture, toys and games, and more.
The Lacey Act makes it unlawful to import certain plants, including plant products, without an import declaration that contains the scientific name of the plant, value of the importation, quantity of the plant, and name of the country from which the plant was harvested. According to the USDA, “requiring importers to affirmatively declare that their imports are legal means they must do their due diligence to ensure that what they are bringing in doesn’t adversely impact forests, thereby reducing the demand for illegally harvested wood and the products made from them.”
Enforcement of the import declaration requirement began April 1, 2009, and has been expanded several times since. Phase VII is the final phase of this process and will expand the import declaration requirement to all remaining plant products HTSUS numbers that are not 100 percent composite materials.
For more information on the Lacey Act import declaration requirement, or how this change may affect your business, please contact Ned Steiner at (202) 730-4970 or via email.
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