Implementation of Revised Lacey Act Provisions
| Published date | 02 July 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 35259 |
| Record Number | 2021-14155 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 125 (Friday, July 2, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 125 (Friday, July 2, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35259-35261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14155]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119]
Implementation of Revised Lacey Act Provisions
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the
Lacey Act to provide, among other things, that importers submit a
declaration at the time of importation for certain plants and plant
products. Enforcement of the declaration requirement began on April 1,
2009, and products requiring a declaration are being phased-in. The
purpose of this notice is to inform the public of a change in the date
of implementation for Phase VI of the enforcement schedule.
DATES: Implementation of Phase VI of the Lacey Act enforcement schedule
will begin October 1, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Dorothy Wayson, National Policy
Manager, Lacey Act Program, Compliance and Environmental Coordination
Branch, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 150, Riverdale, MD 20737;
(301) 851-2036.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.), first enacted in 1900 and
significantly amended in 1981, is the United States' oldest wildlife
protection statute. The Act combats trafficking in illegally taken
wildlife, fish, or plants. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of
2008, effective May 22, 2008, amended the Lacey Act by expanding its
protection to a broader range of plants and plant products (Section
8204, Prevention of Illegal Logging Practices). The Lacey Act now makes
it unlawful to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or
purchase in
[[Page 35260]]
interstate or foreign commerce any plant, with some limited exceptions,
taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law of the
United States or an Indian Tribe, or in violation of any State or
foreign law that protects plants or that regulates certain specified
plant-related activities. The Lacey Act also now makes it unlawful to
make or submit any false record, account, or label for, or any false
identification of, any plant.
In addition, Section 3 of the Lacey Act, as amended, makes it
unlawful, beginning December 15, 2008, to import certain plants,
including plant products, without an import declaration. The
declaration must contain 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. For paper and paperboard products containing
recycled content, the declaration also must include the average percent
of recycled content without regard for species or country of harvest.
The plant import declaration requirement does not apply to plants used
exclusively as packaging material to support, protect, or carry another
item, unless the packaging material itself is the item being imported.
Currently, enforcement of the declaration requirement is being phased
in, as described in three notices we published in the Federal
Register,\1\ the first on February 3, 2009 (74 FR 5911-5913, Docket No.
APHIS-2008-0119), the second on September 2, 2009 (74 FR 45415-45418,
Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119), and the third on February 6, 2015 (80 FR
6681-6683, Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119).
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\1\ To view the notices and the comments we received, go to
http://www.regulations.gov, and enter APHIS-2008-0119 in the Search
field.
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In our February 2009 notice, we committed to providing affected
individuals and industry with at least 6 months' notice for any
products that would be added to the phase-in schedule. The phased-in
enforcement schedule began April 1, 2009. The most recent phase (V)
began on August 6, 2015. The enforcement schedule is available on the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/import-information/SA_Lacey_Act. We continue to consider the applicability of the
declaration requirement to products not included in the current phase-
in schedule.
On March 31, 2020, we published a notice in the Federal Register
(85 FR 17849-17850, Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119) announcing Phase VI of
the enforcement schedule, which would have begun on October 1, 2020. We
solicited comments concerning our proposal until July 1, 2020. We
received 31 comments by that date. They were from industry
associations, conservation organizations, importers, exporters, and
representatives of foreign governments.
Several commenters were concerned that adding products under
Harmonized Tariff Code 4415, which includes cases, boxes, crates,
drums, containers, pallets, and box-pallets, and other solid wood
packaging materials, would result in unnecessary burden and disruptions
to international trade if the declaration requirement was enforced for
these packaging materials.
The Act specifies that the plant import declaration requirement
does not apply to plants used exclusively as packaging material to
support, protect, or carry another item, unless the packaging material
itself is the item being imported (Sec. 3372(f)(3)). APHIS will only
require a declaration for new products in Harmonized Tariff Code 4415
that are formally entering the United States. The declaration
requirement will not apply to used, recycled, or reclaimed pallets or
to pallets, empty or under load, that are used to carry goods imported
into the United States.
Some commenters expressed concern about the addition of essential
oils in Harmonized Tariff Code 3301.29.5150--essential oils of
``other.'' These commenters stated that it was unclear what was
included under ``other'' and that there could be attempts to
inaccurately classify products under different codes to avoid the plant
import declaration requirement.
We agree with the commenters that this code may not provide
sufficient specificity and could result in both deliberate and
unintentional inaccuracies. Accordingly, we have decided to remove
Harmonized Tariff Code 3301.29.5150--essential oils of ``other'' from
this implementation phase.
In the initial notice, we included both Harmonized Tariff Code
9209.92 and the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Code 9209.92.8000. Listing
the 10-digit code is unnecessary, since it already falls under 9209.92.
We also mistakenly categorized Harmonized Tariff Code 9209.99.8000 as
``musical instruments of heading 9202, other.'' It should read simply
``Other.'' We have corrected these errors. An updated list of
Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes is set out below. Furthermore, we have
decided to delay implementation of the enforcement phase based on the
comments we received. Implementation of Phase VI will now begin on
October 1, 2021.
Ch. 33 Headings (Essential Oils)
3301295109--essential oils of cedarwood
3301295121--essential oils of linaloe or bois de rose
3301295139--essential oils of sandalwood
Ch. 42 Headings (Trunks, Cases, Suitcases)
4202292000--trunks, cases, and suitcases of wood
4202992000--other, of wood, not lined
4202993000--other, of wood, lined
Ch. 44 Headings (Wood and Articles of Wood)
441012--oriented strand board (OSB)
4415--cases, boxes, crates, drums, containers, pallets, box-
pallets, etc.
Ch. 92 Headings (Musical Instruments)
9205902000--wind musical instruments: bagpipes
9205904020--clarinets
9205904080--other (woodwind instruments)
9205904060--flutes and piccolos
9206002000--drums
9207900040--musical instruments (fretted string instruments)
9209.92--parts and accessories for musical instruments of
heading 9202
9209992000--parts and accessories for bagpipes
9209994040--parts and accessories for other woodwind
instruments
9209998000--other
Ch. 96 Headings (Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles)
9620005500--monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles of
wood
Additional Information
APHIS will continue to provide the latest information regarding the
Lacey Act on our website, https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/import-information/SA_Lacey_Act. The website currently
contains the Lacey Act, as amended; a slideshow covering background and
context, requirements, commodities and products covered, information on
prohibitions, and the current status of implementation of the
declaration requirement of the Lacey Act; frequently asked questions;
the phase-in implementation plan; a link to the Lacey Act Web
Governance System (LAWGS); and the paper declaration form. The website
will be updated as new materials become available. We encourage persons
interested in
[[Page 35261]]
receiving timely updates on APHIS' Lacey Act efforts to register for
our stakeholder registry at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAAPHIS/subscriber/new/ and select ``Lacey Act Declaration'' as a
topic of interest.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This notice contains no new information collection or recordkeeping
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.). The information collection activities included in this notice
are approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control
number 0579-0349.
E-Government Act Compliance
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is committed to
compliance with the E-Government Act to promote the use of the internet
and other information technologies, to provide increased opportunities
for citizen access to Government information and services, and for
other purposes. For information pertinent to E-Government Act
compliance related to this notice, please contact Mr. Joseph Moxey,
APHIS' Paperwork Reduction Act Coordinator, at (301) 851-2483.
Done in Washington, DC, this 28th day of June 2021.
Mark Davidson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-14155 Filed 7-1-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
