During the April 13-14, 2011 U.S. Customs and Border Protection annual Trade Symposium, APHIS officials provided an update on International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) 15 enforcement issues, and reported that Canada is waiting for the U.S. to pass a rulemaking in order to begin its implementation of the ISPM 15 for U.S. wood packaging material (WPM).
During the April 13-14, 2011 U.S. Customs and Border Protection annual Trade Symposium, CBP and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service officials reported that they were reluctant to add certain HTS codes to the Lacey Act declaration requirements and that there has not been any enforcement specific to the Lacey Act declaration requirements yet, although there are ongoing investigations.
CBP has posted its first agricultural annual report, which covers fiscal year 2010.The report provides a high level overview of two key areas, CBP agriculture inspection statistics and resulting enforcement action statistics. The report also provides information regarding accessing the new Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Stakeholder Registry, which is due to begin in May 2011.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has updated the following PPQ electronic manuals as of April 14, 2011 (since April 7, 2011):
On April 13, 2011 at the annual U.S. Customs and Border Protection Trade Symposium, three agencies, the Food and Drug Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency, described how they interact with CBP on import safety, with CBP expecting cooperation to be the wave of the future.
CBP has posted its first agricultural annual report covering fiscal year 2010. The report, which was recently submitted to COAC, provides a high level overview of two key areas, CBP agriculture inspection statistics and resulting enforcement action statistics. The report also provides information regarding accessing the APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Stakeholder Registry. See future issues of ITT for complete details.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is requesting comments on a petition from Florigene Pty., Ltd., seeking a determination of nonregulated status for certain roses which have been genetically engineered to produce novel flower color. Comments are due by June 13, 2011.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's updated version of its Frequently Asked Questions regarding the enforcement of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's wood packaging material (WPM) regulations appears to only have one change removing the USDA toll-free number for questions. (See ITT's Online Archives or 04/08/11 news, 11040803, for BP summary announcing the updated FAQ was available.)
On April 4, 2011, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin spoke at the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) Annual Conference, where he discussed the need to expedite how legitimate goods move through the ports, including trimming transaction costs, and coordinating with other government agencies1.
The International Trade Data System Board's recent fiscal year 2010 report contains an update on the progress of ITDS implementation by Participating Government Agencies since 2009, and includes information on pilots with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, and Food Safety and Inspection Service; in addition to an antidumping/countervailing duty ACE module with the International Trade Administration, and an interface for the DOT’s planned International Freight Data System and ACE. Other PGAs worked on their agreements with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.