APHIS Set to Begin Phase 7 Lacey Act Import Declaration Enforcement on Dec. 1

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service plans to begin its seventh phase of enforcement of Lacey Act import declaration requirements on Dec. 1, it said in a notice that includes a list of tariff provisions included under phase seven and seeks comments on product coverage.

Comments are due July 30. If APHIS makes changes based on those comments, it will publish those changes in the Federal Register and give “industries affected by those changes” at least six months notice “to facilitate compliance with the new requirements.”

“In this phase, declarations will be required for all remaining plant product Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes that are not 100-percent composite materials,” APHIS said in a news release. Composite materials will be included in the next, eighth phase of Lacey Act enforcement (see 2312050078).

“If an importer imports items that contain plant products, but do not currently file a Lacey Act declaration, they likely will need to file under Phase VII,” APHIS said in the release. “Phase VII includes the broadest range of items, items as varied as industrial or medicinal plants, handbags, plywood, laminated wood, tools, matches with natural wood stems, products of natural cork, products of bamboo and rattan, footwear and more. Plant and wood products included in past phases include timber, some furniture, essential oils, wood cases and trunks, and woodwind instruments and their parts and accessories.”

Specifically, APHIS listed subheadings under the following chapters (and product descriptions) for phase seven enforcement, as follows (see the notice for the full list of tariff headings and subheadings subject to Phase VII):

• Chapter 12 (industrial or medicinal plants)
• Chapter 13 (lac, gums, resins, and other vegetable saps and extracts)
• Chapter 14 (vegetable plaiting materials)
• Chapter 33 (essential oils)
• Chapter 36 (pyrotechnic products)
• Chapter 38 (miscellaneous chemical products)
• Chapter 42 (articles of leather, travel goods, and handbags)
• Chapter 44 (wood and articles of wood)
• Chapter 45 (cork and articles of cork)
• Chapter 46 (basketware and wickerwork)
• Chapter 56 (Nonwovens, Twine, Ropes, and Cables and Articles Thereof)
• Chapter 64 (footwear)
• Chapter 66 (umbrellas)
• Chapter 82 (tools and cutlery)
• Chapter 84 (machinery, boilers, and nuclear reactors)
• Chapter 85 (electrical machinery and equipment)
• Chapter 87 (vehicles)
• Chapter 88 (aircraft and spacecraft)
• Chapter 89 (boats)
• Chapter 90 (optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical, or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof)
• Chapter 91 (clocks and watches)
• Chapter 92 (musical instruments)
• Chapter 93 (arms and ammunitions)
• Chapter 94 (furniture, bedding, mattresses, and similar articles)
• Chapter 95 (toys, games, and sporting equipment)
• Chapter 96 (miscellaneous manufactured articles).