Plant and Wood Product Importations into the U.S. - Lacey Act

*Reminder* The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is scheduled to begin enforcement of Phase IV of the Lacey Act on Apr. 1, 2010. This new phase includes certain items classified in the following HTS Chapters:

Ch. 44 – (Wood and articles of wood)
Ch. 66 – (Umbrellas, walking sticks, riding crops)
Ch. 82 – (Hand tools)
Ch. 92 – (Musical instruments)
Ch. 93 – (Arms and ammunition) For information only, these are prohibited items when shipping with FedEx.
Ch. 94 – (Furniture, etc.)
Ch. 95 – (Toys, games, sporting equipment)
Ch. 97 – (Works of art)

Please refer to the Federal Register Notice Phase-In Schedule dated Sep. 2, 2009 for more information.

*Note* The plant material quantities reported on the Plant and Plant Product Declaration Form 505 must only be for the actual amount of plant material in the article and must be reported in standard metric units.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently published a revised plan and schedule for implementation of several changes to the Lacey Act. The changes require a new declaration for "wild plants", trees, and products made from either of those two. The declaration has been required for these products since Dec. 15, 2008, although it is voluntary during the first phase of implementation. The revised plan clarifies several important elements of the changes, including the scope of the products that require declaration and the time period of the implementation phases.

The revised plan includes the following information:

  • Phase II is scheduled to begin on April 1, 2009, at which time the declaration will be required for all items named in Phase II. The declaration will be submitted electronically beginning in Phase II. APHIS states there will be no further changes to Phase II.
  • The declaration will be enforced only for "formal consumption entries" (greater than USD$2,500) at this time.* Therefore, while the new declaration will not be enforced for informal entries, personal importations, in-transit movements, etc. APHIS reserves the authority to require it at some future date.
  • The declaration is required only for the actual imported article, and is not required for "sundries" such as "tags, labels, manuals, and warranty cards" that accompany the imported article.
  • Each implementation phase will be six months in length. Full enforcement is scheduled for Oct. 1, 2010, at the completion of Phases III and IV.


The phases are basically broken down by degree of processing of the product. For example, Phase II includes such items as fuel wood, railway sleepers, sheets for veneering, etc. Phase III includes further processed wood products such as plywood, packing cases, tableware and kitchenware, etc. Finally, Phase IV includes such things as corrugated paper and board, carbon paper, furniture, etc.

The APHIS notice includes a complete list of commodities for which a declaration will be required, for each phase of implementation. Phase II covers wood and articles of wood classified in Chapter 44 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the U.S. The data elements required in the new declaration can be found in APHIS form PPQ-505, available on the APHIS Web site.

Additional information:

*Effective January 8, 2013, the low-value threshold increased from USD$2,000 to USD$2,500.