8 August 2008

Farm Bill's illegal logging ban hits shippers, logistics companies

The following was reported on in the 8 August 2008 edition of “Journal of Commerce”.

Customs and Border Patrol and an industry advisory panel are scrambling to understand and cope with a provision in the recently enacted Farm Bill that makes commerce in products made from illegally harvested or traded plants and plant products, including wood, a federal crime.

The measure’s amendments expanded the Lacey Act -- a 1900 law that banned the transport of wildlife caught illegally in foreign countries -- to outlaw and penalize illegal logging activity.

It requires import declarations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that cite the source and specific name of the plant, its genus and species, and its value. The requirement takes effect on Dec. 15.

But there’s a major problem, outlined Thursday by Customs officials during a Customs’ Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) meeting in Seattle. First, the provisions cover thousands of products. Second, the reporting requirements -– on paper no less –- take effect in four months.

“It’s more than just plants,” said Cathy Sauceda, director of the Office of Trade’s Import Safety and Inter-Agency Requirements. She explained that the requirement applies to wood and products, paper products, textiles, apparel, toys, games and sporting goods.“About 8,000 lines of duty items will require certificates of importation,” she said. “This will be very difficult for us.”

COAC members, including shippers, carriers, retailers and logistics providers, greeted this news with surprise, disbelief and general head-scratching about what to do next.

Barry O’Brien, director of global trade and customs at Hasbro Inc., said it will be “an unbelievable challenge to meet the requirements by December 15.”

Customs Commissioner W. Ralph Basham said, “We are going to have to ask for COAC’s help on what will be a difficult experience.”

The panel quickly formed an agriculture subcommittee to examine the ramifications and come up with a strategy for compliance.