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IMPORT DECLARATION-PLANT & PLANT PRODUCTS
September 15, 2008

The Lacey Act, (16 U.S.C. § 3371 et seq.), (the \\\\\\\"Act\\\\\\\") was originally passed in 1900 as an anti-trafficking statute intended to protect wildlife and plants. Passed in May of 2008, and effective immediately, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 expands the protection provided by the Lacey Act to a broader range of plants and plant products.

The Act now 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 Act also now makes it unlawful to make or submit any false rec ord, account or label for, or any false identification of, any plant.

Under the amended Act, it will be unlawful to import any plant or plant product without a declaration. The Act defines \\\\\\\"plant\\\\\\\" as \\\\\\\"any member of the plant kingdom, including roots, seeds, part or product thereof, . . . . .including trees from either natural or planted forest stands.\\\\\\\"

The declaration made pursuant to the Act must be filed at the time of importation and include the following information:


- the scientific name of the plant, including genus & species (If unknown, declare the name of each species that may have been used to produce the product);
- the value (There is no \\\\\\\"de minimis.\\\\\\\");
- the quantity (There is no \\\\\\\"de minimis\\\\\\\");
- the name of the country from which the plant was taken (Note, that this country may be different from the imported item's country of origin designated for U.S. Customs and Border Protectio n marking and duty purposes. Note also that, if the species is commonly taken from more than one country, and the country is unknown, declare the name of each country from which the plant may have been taken.); and
- if applicable, the average percentage of recycled material in the product.


Exclusions to the declaration requirement set forth in the expanded Act' are the following:


- common cultivars* (except trees);
- common food crops* and products thereof;
- scientific specimens for research;
- plants to remain planted or replanted; and
- packaging material used to support, protect or carry another item (unless the packaging material is the imported item).


* The U.S. Departments of the Interior and Agriculture are working together to define those terms.

The above-referenced exclusions do not apply if the plant is listed in the following:

- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (\\\\\\\"CITES\\\\\\\");
- Endangered Species Act of 1973 (\\\\\\\"ESA\\\\\\\"); or
- any State law that provides for the conservation of species.


Following is a list of the potentially affected commodities:


- lumber;
- wood pulp;
- paper & paperboard;
- live plants if listed under CITES, ESA, or any State law that provides for the conservation of species;
- furniture;
- umbrellas;
- resin;
- cigarettes;
- printed matter (including goods imported with printed materials);
- boats, cars, trains, planes;
- musical instruments;
- pharmaceuticals; and
- textiles.


In short, a declaration must be filed when importing anything containing anything that is derived from plants (unless excepted).

Violations of the Act a r e punishable by both civil and criminal penalties.

The current status of implementation of the revision to the Act is that the U.S. Government (1) has not yet determined the reporting methodology, i.e., paper declarations will be available and the U.S. Government is exploring automated solutions and (2) is working on a phased-in i