Andrea McNally (301) 734-0602
USDA REVISES LACEY ACT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2009--The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced that it has revised the plan to phase-in enforcement of the import declaration that is now required under the Lacey Act provisions.
On May 22, 2008, the Lacey Act was amended to make it illegal to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, any plant--with limited exceptions--to be taken or traded in violation of domestic or international laws. The Act now requires an import declaration for a broad range of plants and plant products that includes the scientific name of any plant, a description of the value, quantity and the name of the country from where the plant was taken. APHIS and the other federal agencies involved in enforcing the provisions in the Act are working together to phase in enforcement of the declaration, which began in May 2009.
Based on comments received on the initial implementation plan, further internal consideration and experience with the first phase of enforcement, APHIS has revised the implementation schedule for the remaining phases. The revised schedule covers implementation through Aug. 31, 2010, and is detailed in the Federal Register notice available on APHIS’ Hot Issues page at www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/lacey_act/index.shtml/.
It is important to note that while enforcement of the declaration requirement is being phased-in, the other Lacey Act requirements are currently in effect. Actions to enforce these provisions may be taken at any time.
The declaration form and other current information on the Lacey Act implementation is also available on the APHIS Web site listed above. Mail completed forms to the Lacey Act, c/o USDA, Box 10, 4700 River Rd., Riverdale, MD 20737-1231.
This notice is published in today’s Sept. 2 Federal Register.
Consideration will be given to comments received on or before Nov. 2. Send two copies of postal mail or commercial delivery comments 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. Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119. If you wish to submit a comment using the Internet go to the Federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2008-0119.
Comments are posted on the Regulations.gov Web site and may also be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.
#
Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media advisories are available on the Internet. Go to the APHIS news release page at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom. Also, anyone with an e-mail address can sign up to receive APHIS press releases automatically. Send an e-mail message to lyris@mdrdlyriss10.aphis.usda.gov and leave the subject blank. In the message, type
subscribe press_releases.
