The Department of Agriculture has announced plans to require a Lacey Act import declaration for additional products, beginning on October 1, 2020. Targets of the new import declaration requirement include musical instruments, essential oils, trunks, cases, and suitcases.
Under the Lacey Act, it is unlawful to import certain plants and plant products without an import declaration which contains the scientific name of the plant, the quantity and value of the importation, and the name of the country from which the plant was harvested. The Act also requires that paper and paperboard products which contain recycled content include the average percent of recycled content without regard for species or country of harvest. The 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.
The Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is soliciting comments on this proposal no later than June 1. APHIS is also accepting comments on whether any other products should be included on this list.
Importers are advised to review the list below to see if any of their products will be impacted by the proposed changes.
Chapter 33 (Essential Oils)
- HTSUS 3301.29.5109 (essential oils of cedarwood)
- HTSUS 3301.29.5121 (essential oils of linaloe or bois de rose)
- HTSUS 3301.29.5139 (essential oils of sandalwood)
- HTSUS 3301.29.5150 (other essential oils)
Chapter 42 (Trunks, Cases, Suitcases)
- HTSUS 4202.29.2000 (trunks, cases, and suitcases of wood)
- HTSUS 4202.99.2000 (other, of wood, not lined)
- HTSUS 4202.99.3000 (other, of wood, lined)
Chapter 44 (Wood and Articles of Wood)
- HTSUS 4410.12 (oriented strand board)
- HTSUS 4415 (cases, boxes, crates, drums, containers, pallets, box-pallets, etc.)
Chapter 92 (Musical Instruments)
- HTSUS 9205.90.2000 (bagpipes)
- HTSUS 9205.90.4020 (clarinets)
- HTSUS 9205.90.4080 (other woodwind instruments)
- HTSUS 9205.90.4060 (flutes and piccolos)
- HTSUS 9206.00.2000 (drums)
- HTSUS 9207.90.0040 (fretted string instruments)
- HTSUS 9209.92 (parts and accessories for musical instruments of heading 9202)
- HTSUS 9209.92.8000 (parts and accessories for musical instruments)
- HTSUS 9209.99.2000 (parts and accessories for bagpipes)
- HTSUS 9209.99.4040 (parts and accessories for other woodwind instruments)
- HTSUS 9209.99.8000 (parts and accessories for musical instruments of heading 9202, other)
Chapter 96 (Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles)
- HTSUS 9620.00.5500 (monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles of wood)
APHIS recently announced a new final rule to the Lacey Act, which grants an exception to the requirement to imported products containing plant material that represents no more than 5% of the total weight of the individual product unit. This exception is available provided that the total weight of the plant material in an entry of products in the same 10-digit HTSUS provision does not exceed 2.9 kilograms. However, this exception is not available for products containing plant material listed in an appendix to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
