Consumer Products: USA Releases Notice on the Implementation of the Revised Lacey Act Provisions

On May 31, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA released a notice on the implementation of the Revised Lacey Act Provisions. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of another phase of the Federal Government's enforcement schedule. Phase VII of the enforcement schedule will begin on December 1, 2024. Products that are imported into the United States that fall under the additional product categories made of plant material must submit a Lacey Declaration to comply.

The public is invited to 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. The covered products in this phase include, among others:

• Articles of Leather, Travel Goods, and Handbags
• Essential Oils
• Wood and Articles of Wood
• Cork and Articles of Cork
• Basketware and Wickerwork
• Footwear
• Umbrellas
• Tools and Cutlery
• Electrical Machinery and Equipment
• Optical, Photographic, Cinematographic, Measuring, Checking, Precision, Medical, or Surgical Instruments and Apparatus; Parts and Accessories Thereof
• Clocks and Watches
• Furniture, Bedding, Mattresses, and Similar Articles
• Toys, Games, and Sporting Equipment

Products that fall under a harmonized tariff schedule code containing plant materials shall be subject to Lacey Act declaration requirements.

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, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law of the United States or an Indian tribe, or in violation of any State or foreign law that protects plants or that regulates certain specified plant-related activities. The Lacey Act also now makes it unlawful to make or submit any false record, account, or label for, or any false identification of, any plant.

The comment period ended July 30, 2024.

Official source

SB No. 292