NMFS Proposes to Enable the Entry of Fish Import Data Into ACE
The National Marine Fisheries Service seeks to revise regulations to allow for the streamlining of electronic filing requirements pertaining to the import of fish or fish products, according to a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register.
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Specifically, the proposed rule would enable the electronic entry filing of data from the Certification of Admissibility (COA) form into ACE. The COA allows U.S. entry of certain fish or fish products that would otherwise be subject to trade restrictions.
"This proposed rule would standardize and consolidate existing permit, reporting, recordkeeping, and entry filing requirements and allow nations to use their own aggregate catch documentation. The intent of these actions is to enable the continued flow of trade while adhering to existing statutory requirements," NMFS said in the notice.
Comments on the proposed rule are due by Feb. 18.
Importers of fish or fish products not subject to trade restrictions fill out the COA fish harvest record form, which vets the method of capture and location of harvest. NMFS currently uses paper-format COAs that require signatures of the certifying official of the exporting nation prior to arrival and the U.S. importer upon release into the United States, according to the agency.
The proposed rule seeks to automate the COA and entry process, and it proposes to amend and consolidate COA-related permit, reporting and recordkeeping, and entry filing requirements in a new subpart S to 50 CFR part 300. The goal is to ensure consistency in the COA requirements for importing non-restricted products across all programs, NMFS said.
"To automate the process of entry determination, this proposed rule will set forth the types of data elements that must be entered at the time of entry, or in advance of entry, into the ACE portal by the importer of record for each fish or fish product designated by NMFS as requiring a COA," NMFS said. "Automated entry processing would facilitate enforcement of trade restrictions while also reducing the potential for disruptions/delays affecting the trade community when documents are checked manually. ACE automation of the COA data would allow for the ability to act more quickly in implementing trade restrictions and COA requirements at entry."
The proposed rule also would make COA requirements consistent for use among fish and fish product imports subject to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium Protection Act), or the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA). These regulations place trade restrictions on fish and fish products imports that come from nations that do not meet U.S. standards or requirements.
As foreign countries take corrective action so that they would no longer be subject to the MMPA, the Moratorium Protection Act or the ATCA, NMFS could lift trade restrictions and an update would be made accordingly in ACE by CBP following guidance and instruction provided by NMFS.
NMFS said it and CBP have been working to develop functionality within the ACE portal for this data. NMFS also worked with CBP trade specialists to determine Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. codes applicable to the fish or fish products subject to the trade restrictions, and the agency worked with the CBP Office of Field Operations to implement the trade restriction, with the scope of the restriction specified by the country of origin and the HTSUS code of the product.