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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Brand Hong Kong - Asia world city
MY COLOUR

Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 111/2

11 December 2009

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 620/2009

US : Guidance for Filing Lacey Act Declarations for Composite, Recycled, or Reused Materials

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently posted to its website a new guidance for filing US Lacey Act declarations for composite, recycled, or reused materials. The new guidance is available on the website of the APHIS at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/downloads/Guidance-for-CompositeMaterials.pdf.

DETAILS

  1. The trade was informed via Commercial Information Circular No. 449/2009 that the USDA has decided to further delay enforcement of the declaration for products such as composite and recycled or reused materials (e.g., medium density fiberboard, particleboard, and scrap wood) and proposed to begin enforcing the declaration for the above-mentioned products no earlier than 1 September 2010.
     

  2. Beginning 1 October 2009, the US began enforcement of the declaration requirement for five additional Harmonized Tariff Schedule chapters under Chapter 44 Headings (wood and articles of wood). The APHIS recognized that some products now requiring a declaration are still composed of composite, recycled, and/or reused materials, which presents a challenge to importers filing Lacey Act declarations. The APHIS now issues the guidance to instruct importers to indicate the type of material under "Plant Scientific Name" for products composed entirely of composite, recycled, and/or reused materials. If a product is not composed entirely of composite, recycled, or reused material, an importer must indicate the genus, species, and country of harvest for all other product components. The APHIS has given an example in the guidance as reference. 
     

  3. Traders are advised to visit the APHIS website which is available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/index.shtml for the latest information regarding the Lacey Act. Traders are also strongly advised to seek clarifications with their importers in the US in order to comply with the necessary requirements.

ENQUIRIES

  1. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5682.

Yours faithfully,




(Miss Bonny CHAO)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry