The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will begin requiring Lacey Act import declarations for a new set of plant materials and products beginning as early as spring 2024, it said in an emailed bulletin March 27. The agency is reviewing the tariff schedule to “determine the complete list of materials and products that will be included in Phase VII” of Lacey Act enforcement, and will publish a “complete list” in the fall of “materials and products” that will be newly subject to the import declaration requirement, it said. APHIS “will require declarations for those product codes 6 months” after it publishes the list, it said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow imports of fresh beef from Paraguay, it said in a notice released March 24. Under the proposal, fresh beef from Paraguay would be subject to the same import conditions as imports of fresh beef from Uruguay and approved regions of Argentina and Brazil. Comments on the proposed rule are due May 26.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service updated its federal order on measures to prevent introduction of the tomato leafminer to add Trinidad and Tobago as a country infested by the plant pest but still able to export tomatoes to the U.S. if certain import requirements are met. The new federal order, which supersedes one issued in 2019, takes effect March 31.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced March 8 a redesigned Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection program user fees webpage. The new “customer-focused” site will provide general AQI user fee information on the main page, as well as fee-specific information and resources and an announcements section “to help users quickly identify important information,” the agency said. “APHIS’ goal in the redesign was to make it easier for customers to find information and resources that apply to their fee area(s) without having to navigate through information that doesn’t apply to them,” it said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will classify eight Mexican regions for bovine tuberculosis, it announced in a March 3 notice. These are: the state of Sonora as Level II; the Yucatan Peninsula region (states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo, and part of Campeche), the Huasteca region (parts of Puebla, Veracruz and Hidalgo), part of Chuhuahua, and part of Durango as Level III; and part of the state of Coahuila, part of Nuevo Leon and the whole state of Tamaulipas as Level IV. APHIS proposed the classifications in August 2022 with comments due in October (see 2208250048) but said it did not receive any comments. APHIS in March 2022 classified Sonora as a Level I for bovine brucellosis and Canada as a Level I for both bovine brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis (see 2203040021).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow importation of fresh oha leaves from Nigeria and mangoes from Grenada into the U.S., both subject to certain phytostanitary requirements, it said in a pair of notices released Feb. 14. Imports of the oha leaves and mangoes may be authorized beginning Feb. 15, APHIS said.
CBP sent out a CSMS message Feb. 13 reminding import filers of the “procedures and requirements to appropriately import shipments of biological materials.” The agency “estimates that a large volume of shipments containing biological materials are imported with missing, conflicting, or improper documentation and packaging,” it said, and “importations that fail to comply with U.S. import requirements may be refused/denied entry.” The message details what’s included under the term “biological materials,” as well as procedures for filing documents required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is developing a new Harmonized Tariff Schedule flag for use in ACE that the agency says will eliminate the need for filers to disclaim entries under tariff subheadings potentially subject to the APHIS Core partner government agency message set, it said in an emailed bulletin Feb. 9. The new “AQ3” flag will alert filers that the relevant tariff subheading may require APHIS Core PGA data, but it will not prohibit filers from successfully submitting an entry without the data or a disclaim.
LAREDO, Texas -- CBP hopes to wrap up discussions with the trade on its 21st Century Customs Framework in 2023, “putting a bow” on its consultations with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee and putting legislative proposals to Congress, said Brandon Lord, CBP executive director-trade policy and programs.