USDA APHIS announces planned Lacey Act essential oil coverage

EDITOR'S NOTE

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has referenced plans to include all plant essential oils under Phase VII of the implementation of import declaration requirements under the Lacey Act. USDA APHIS has not yet formally announced the implementation of Phase VII declaration requirements, but site materials indicate that the agency will formally announce the action sometime this year.

Products that fall under Lacey Act import declaration requirements have to disclose additional information, including country of harvest, at the time of import. The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has previously worked with USDA and aligned industry groups to delay import declaration requirement implementation for many essential oils. Current USDA APHIS communications indicate that the next phase will expand requirements to all imported plant product categories which are not made from 100 percent composite materials.

APHIS is planning for the latest declaration requirement stage: Phase VII. In this phase, Lacey Act declarations will be required for all remaining plant product Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes that are not 100 percent composite materials. That means a wide array of imported products—such as furniture, additional essential oils, and cork—that have never before needed Lacey Act declarations will now need them. In 2023, APHIS will publish a list of affected HTS codes in the Federal Register and will require declarations for those product codes 6 months later.

What does this mean for importers? If you import items that contain plant products, and you do not currently file a Lacey Act declaration, you will likely need to file one once we implement Phase VII.