[Nhcoll-l] URGENT MESSAGE FOR ANYONE PLANNING TO HAND CARRY IMPORTS/EXPORTS

Tue Jun 28 12:11:48 EDT 2016

Would the APHIS webinar on Live Animals be useful?  I’m not sure if it addressed hand carried imports, but it is on the BIEC page under the webinar section (January 20, 2016):
www.cbp.gov/biec<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.cbp.gov_biec&d=CwIGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=yTYZds0XEtZKZxAUFzcK5unIIMsHqtroxFJG5Wk3ruk&s=FTHX3-9t89C92qUI-EwZqvNyKsc3HBapCj-A1DIVDhw&e= >

The webinars are listed chronologically, so scroll to the right date.

Regards

Trudy

From: Ellen Paul [mailto:ellen.paul at verizon.net]
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 10:58 AM
To: Bulletin Board for Bird Collections and Curators
Cc: NHCOLL-new; Mammalian Biology; Hunter, Dawn K - APHIS; RUTLAND, TRUDY R
Subject: Re: URGENT MESSAGE FOR ANYONE PLANNING TO HAND CARRY IMPORTS/EXPORTS

I am slowly putting together the pieces on ACE (Automated Commercial Environment) "entry" filing requirements. Please bear with me.

I didn't mean to imply yesterday that this affects only hand-carried imports. It affects ALL imports. I focused first on hand-carry because people who are going to ship in the very near future have an easy fix for those upcoming shipments: Use a customs broker. In fact, as most of you are using FedEx, just switch over to FedEx Trade  Network<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.ftn.fedex.com_&d=CwIGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=yTYZds0XEtZKZxAUFzcK5unIIMsHqtroxFJG5Wk3ruk&s=j7ZTST4cUIATmRZJ8rU8P9fyrUUPHaEgNh5TSsQ4EJQ&e= >. It is the FedEx in-house custom brokerage and basically set up to handle all shipments that require permits, declarations, etc.

Caveat - this is not going to work for shipments moving on CITES permits (i.e., that require validation). I have yet to see a customs broker handle validation correctly. But for all else, it should be fine.

Another caution: I believe that you are going to have to do this for shipments moving on COSE as well. I will look into it, but I'd be surprised if they've made an exemption. I asked to be added to the stakeholder group and they said yes, but I've heard nothing more since then.

Longer term, your choice will be to continue using FedEx Trade Network OR register (a labyrinth process) and then file these things yourself before you head back (or ship back) to the U.S. I am starting the registration process myself now and hit a brick wall right away. First thing you do is call and ask them to assign you a representative. Guess what? Voice mail. But as I walk through it, I will take detailed notes and share everything I learn here.

Implementation timetable, FWIW:

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cbp.gov_sites_default_files_documents_PGA-2520Pilot-2DCommodities-2520Status-2520-2D-2520Nov.-25202015.pdf&d=CwIGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=yTYZds0XEtZKZxAUFzcK5unIIMsHqtroxFJG5Wk3ruk&s=OWjrIjRr6-ABjYjtZfcdV_WwISwwybrG9RtVJAE65co&e= 

Clearly they didn't meet their own deadlines in some cases and in some cases, they are ahead of the announced dates, even enforcing it without advance notice to anyone. APHIS "CORE" which I assume includes wildlife because the only other APHIS is Lacey Act, which is for plants, was supposed to have been Nov. 2015. Yesterday, I was told July 23 (three weeks from now). Yet Detroit, at least, is already enforcing it for APHIS imports.

For USFWS, the schedule says "planned Feb 2016" - to be announced by agency.

Ellen Paul
Executive Director
Ornithological Council<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nmnh.si.edu_BIRDNET&d=CwIGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=yTYZds0XEtZKZxAUFzcK5unIIMsHqtroxFJG5Wk3ruk&s=oznhMaJT-TNswTFnJwXTSogDTkMVFze3_Lj5dW0v3NY&e= >
Providing Scientific Information about Birds
On 6/27/16 7:02 PM, Ellen Paul wrote:

I may have mentioned in the past that there is one more headache coming down the pike. I was informed about two months ago by the APHIS National Import Export Services staff that the Customs and Border Protection was beginning to work on setting up a new system called ACE. Automated Commercial Environment. It will soon be all-agency. And yes, I know your imports are not commercial. Trust me, the name is irrelevant. This is about national security.

The idea behind ACE is that CBP has no means of knowing everything that is coming into this country. That's a function of each agency that has some legal authority over imports, including (in your case) APHIS, FWS, and sometimes CDC. And those agencies do not report that info to the CBP.

So this system requires every importer to report the info. You can do this is one of two ways: use a customs broker (which will cost you a few bucks; I'm not clear that any broker will do it if they haven't actually handled the import which is generally not cheap and also a serious problem when it comes to CITES validations. Or you can register and then file the "entries" yourself.

In April, I was told it would be months before it would be required for APHIS info and that we would get advance notice. Well, technically, it has been months and although I didn't actually get notice, the system goes into effect for APHIS on July 23.

The good news is that once registered, the "entry" you file covers all agencies. So when USFWS goes into the system, you will already be there!

No this will NOT replace any of the agency-specific documents. This is in addition to all that paperwork.

So here's the registration link:

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cbp.gov_trade_ace_features&d=CwIGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=yTYZds0XEtZKZxAUFzcK5unIIMsHqtroxFJG5Wk3ruk&s=2cOnfccSzTtuySg8FdJuxf0iupNN4dIbMOiGrEm5wAA&e= 

It's late, I have Lyme, so I'm not going to start trying it now but I expect it to be a PITA that is designed for commercial imports. However, I'll work through it tomorrow, talk to the agency about any hurdles I can't get past, and get back to all of you with instructions.
Ellen
--

Ellen Paul
Executive Director
Ornithological Council<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nmnh.si.edu_BIRDNET&d=CwIGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=yTYZds0XEtZKZxAUFzcK5unIIMsHqtroxFJG5Wk3ruk&s=oznhMaJT-TNswTFnJwXTSogDTkMVFze3_Lj5dW0v3NY&e= >
Phone (301) 986 8568
Providing Scientific Information about Birds

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