[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6681-6683]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02403]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119]
Implementation of Revised Lacey Act Provisions
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the
Lacey Act to provide, among other things, that importers submit a
declaration at the
[[Page 6682]]
time of importation for certain plants and plant products. Enforcement
of the declaration requirement began on April 1, 2009, and products
requiring a declaration are being phased-in. The purpose of this notice
is to inform the public of another phase of the Federal Government's
enforcement schedule.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before April
7, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2008-0119.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2008-
0119 or in our reading room, which is located in Room 1141 of the USDA
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington,
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Parul Patel, Senior
Agriculturalist, Regulations, Permits, and Manuals, PPQ, APHIS, 4700
River Road, Unit 60, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 851-2351.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.), first enacted in 1900 and
significantly amended in 1981, is the United States' oldest wildlife
protection statute. The Act combats trafficking in illegally taken
wildlife, fish, and plants. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of
2008 amended the Lacey Act by expanding its protection to a broader
range of plants and plant products (Section 8204, Prevention of Illegal
Logging Practices). As amended, the Lacey Act makes it unlawful to
import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in
interstate or foreign commerce any plant, with some limited exceptions,
taken in violation of the laws of a U.S. State or any foreign law that
protects plants. The Lacey Act also makes it unlawful to make or submit
any false record, account, or label for, or any false identification
of, any plant.
In addition, Section 3 of the Lacey Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.
3372), makes it unlawful to import certain plants and plant products
without an import declaration. The declaration must contain, among
other things, the scientific name of the plant, value of the
importation, quantity of the plant, and name of the country from where
the plant was harvested. For paper and paperboard products containing
recycled content, the declaration also must include the average percent
of recycled content without regard for species or country of harvest.
Currently, enforcement of the declaration requirement is being phased
in, as described in two notices we published in the Federal
Register,\1\ the first on February 3, 2009 (74 FR 5911-5913, Docket No.
APHIS-2008-0119) and the second on September 2, 2009 (74 FR 45415-
45418, Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119).
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\1\ To view these notices and the comments we received, go to
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2008-0119.
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In our February 2009 notice, we committed to providing affected
individuals and industry with at least 6 months' notice for any
products that would be added to the phase-in schedule. The phased-in
enforcement schedule began April 1, 2009. The most recent phase (IV)
began on April 1, 2010. The enforcement schedule is available on the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/. We continue to consider the
applicability of the declaration requirement to products not included
in the current phase-in schedule and we invite public comment on how
the declaration requirement should be enforced as to these products.
Phase V of the enforcement schedule, which would begin on August 6,
2015, is described below. We invite public comment on the products
covered under this phase of the plan, as well as on whether any
additional Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) chapters should be included
in the current phase-in schedule. Should there be additions to phase V,
we intend to provide at least 6 months' notice to persons and
industries affected by those changes to facilitate compliance with the
new requirements. Changes will be announced in the Federal Register.
Ch. 44 Headings (Wood & Articles of Wood)
4416003010--new casks, barrels, and parts of wood
4416003020--used assembled casks of wood
4416003030--used unassembled casks of wood
4416006010--new barrel staves of wood
4416006020--new barrel hoops of softwood
4416006030--new tight barrelheads of wood
4416006040--used barrels staves of softwood
4416006050--used hoops, tight barrelheads of softwood
4416009020--new other casks, barrels, wood
4416009040--used other cooper goods, wood
Ch. 82 Headings (Tools, Implements, Cutlery, Spoons and Forks, of Base
Metal; Parts Thereof of Base Metal)
8211926000--hunting knives with wood handles
8215992400--table barbeque forks with wood handles
Ch. 94 Headings (Furniture, etc.)
9401612010--upholstered teak chair, household
9401612030--upholstered teak chairs, other
9401901500--parts of bent-wood seats
9403304000--bent-wood office furniture
9403404000--bent-wood kitchen furniture
9403504000--bent-wood bedroom furniture
9403604000--other bent-wood furniture
Ch. 96 Headings (Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles)
9614002100--rough wood blocks for smoking pipe manufacture
Additional Information
Several commenters on our earlier notices contended that
identifying composite and recycled or reused materials (e.g., medium
density fiberboard, particleboard, and scrap wood) to the genus and/or
species level would be difficult and in some cases impossible. These
commenters asked that we consider describing a level at which the
declaration requirement does not apply for minimal amounts of
unidentifiable plant materials in such products. The commenters also
asked that we describe a level at which the declaration requirement
does not apply for minimal amounts of non-listed (i.e., not of
conservation concern) plant materials contained in an otherwise non-
plant product, such as wooden buttons on a shirt. Some commenters
referred to this as a de minimis exception from the declaration
requirement. We are in the process of
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developing a proposal to establish exceptions from the declaration
requirement for composite materials and products that contain a minimal
amount of plant material. Upon completion of the proposal, we will
publish it in the Federal Register for public comment.
APHIS will continue to provide the latest information regarding the
Lacey Act on our Web site, http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/. The Web site currently contains the Lacey Act, as amended;
a slideshow covering background and context, requirements, commodities
and products covered, information on prohibitions, and the current
status of implementation of the declaration requirement of the Lacey
Act; frequently asked questions; the phase-in implementation plan; a
link to the Lacey Act Web Governance System (LAWGS); and the paper
declaration form. The Web site will be updated as new materials become
available. We encourage persons interested in receiving timely updates
on APHIS' Lacey Act efforts to register for our stakeholder registry at
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAAPHIS/subscriber/new/ and
select ``Lacey Act Declaration'' as a topic of interest.
Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of February 2015.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-02403 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P