File a Lacey Act Declaration
The Lacey Act combats illegal trafficking of wildlife, fish, and plants. It is against the law to import into the United States any illegally harvested plant or plant product, and certain products require a declaration.
Below is detailed guidance on filing a Lacey Act declaration.
Getting Started
File a Declaration
The importer of record or their agent can file the Lacey Act declaration using one of the options below.
ACE is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) system. It is the primary method for filing Lacey Act declarations.
New to ACE? Learn more about filing APHIS-required data in ACE.
Resources for Filing
In certain circumstances, you can use a special use designation (SUD) to provide descriptions of the plant material in products that require a Lacey Act declaration when you cannot provide the scientific names (genus/species).
The following resources may be useful when looking up scientific plant names:
- USDA’s Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), Taxonomy for Plants, Advanced Query of Species taxonomic data provide the structure and nomenclature for accessions of the National Plant Germplasm System, part of USDA's National Genetic Resources Program. GRIN Taxonomy for Plants represents all families and genera of vascular plants and 51,691 species from throughout the world, especially economic plants and their relatives. It also provides information on scientific and common names, classification, distribution, references, and economic impacts.
- USDA's PLANTS Database provides standardized information about vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the United States and its Territories.
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) provides authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world. ITIS is a partnership of the U.S., Canadian, and Mexican agencies (ITIS- North America); other organizations; and taxonomic specialists.
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) is the product of a collaboration between The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Harvard University Herbaria, and the Australian National Herbarium. It is a database of names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns, and lycophytes.
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Wood Risk Tool is a resource for industry to learn about their plant products by providing information, insights, and risk scores for tree species and countries of harvest. The tool includes species that are listed as threatened by CITES or on the IUCN Red List.
Make sure you enter the correct entry type code when you file your declaration.
Commodities derived from common cultivars (except trees) and common food crops are excluded from the requirements of the Lacey Act.
If you are filing customs information in ACE, you can use a disclaimer code when prompted to file a Lacey Act declaration for a product that is excluded from the declaration requirements or that you already filed a declaration for through LAWGS or paper.
Select the appropriate disclaim option in the APHIS Lacey Act Message Set:
- A. Not Regulated: This disclaimer code is used to indicate that the Lacey Act information is not required because the product is not regulated under the 2008 amendments to the Lacey Act or it is exempt under the Act. This includes products that are common cultivars, common food crops, scientific specimens, and plants intended for planting, and products containing zero (0) plant material. Protected plant species are not part of these exemptions.
- B. Not Required: This disclaimer code is used to indicate that the Lacey Act information is not required because the product has been identified in APHIS policy as not requiring a Lacey Act declaration.
- C. Filed Through Other System: This disclaimer code is used to indicate that the filer has already submitted the required Lacey Act information directly to APHIS using the Lacey Act Web Governance System (LAWGS).
- D. Filed Through Paper Submission: This disclaimer code is used to indicate that the filer has already submitted the required Lacey Act information directly to APHIS using the Lacey Act Plant and Plant Product Declaration (PPQ Form 505 (449.36 KB)/505b (269.8 KB)) paper form.
- G. De minimis: This disclaimer code is used to indicate that the HTS line is claimed as de minimis for products containing plant material that represents no more than 5 percent of the total weight of the individual product unit, provided that the total weight of the plant material in an entry of such products (at the CBP line level, single HTS code) does not exceed 2.9 kilograms.
Questions?
For help complying with the Lacey Act declaration requirement:
Lacey Act Team
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