Industry News

Update on APHIS Lacey Act Metric Unit Enforcement

June 1, 2011


On July 1, 2010, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) began enforcing its requirement for plant material quantities to be reported using standardized metric units. This requirement applies when submitting both paper and electronic Lacey Act Amendment declarations for imported plants and plant products. Although APHIS has not yet rejected any entries for declarations not being in metric units, it may begin to do so in the future.

Entries are currently being handled on a case-by-case basis, and APHIS is notifying those who submit declarations failing to use metric units to revise and resubmit their declarations to include metric units. While APHIS is currently notifying filers who fail to submit declarations using metric units, should APHIS encounter significant problems with compliance, it may start rejecting entries or referring problem filers to the Department of Justice. While APHIS’ report to Congress is still a work in progress, there have been discussions regarding adding more products in addition to those listed for Phases II through IV.

For further information, contact a Barnes/Richardson attorney.