Industry News

APHIS Requests Comments on Lacey Declaration Exemptions

July 27, 2011


The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will issue its report to Congress on the Lacey Act Amendments by August 29, 2011, and its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is now asking for input from industry stakeholders on current proposals (76 FR 38330). The USDA is in the process of defining exemptions under the Lacey Declaration 2008 amendments for importers whose products contain plant material. Clothing importers have claimed that satisfying requirements in the Declaration for minimal amounts of plant material would be a burden to trade and have supported a de minimis exception.

 

APHIS is trying to determine the feasibility of a de minimis exception and to define a threshold for the plant material that will be exempted.  APHIS seeks comments on the percentage of plant material for the threshold: two percent, five percent, or ten percent of a certain product, and whether this should be defined by volume, weight and/or value of the plant material. Such an exception, however, would not apply to plant material originating from species included in the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. APHIS is also taking comments on requirements and definitions for other areas with potential exemptions, such as composite plant materials, declaration forms, products with re-used plant materials, and the yarn-forward rule. Industry stakeholders need not resubmit comments from previous notices. New comments should be submitted before the August 29th report.  

 

For further information, contact a Barnes/Richardson attorney.