For more information on the Lacey Act declaration, please refer to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection service here
What is the Lacey Act Declaration?
The Lacey Act Declaration, otherwise known as PPQ form 505, is a requirement by law for certain imports containing wood or plant product to be declared to the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and includes the following:
Scientific species name
Country of harvest
value of product
quantity of plant material
importer name & address
consignee name & address
HTS commodity code
Bill of lading number
container number (if applicable)
Manufacturer Identification Code (MID) ( If available)
Description of shipment
Name & Contact information of importer of record who completed the declaration
How is the requirements for the Lacey Act Declaration determined?
The requirement for a Lacey Act Declaration is determined by the 10-digit HTS classification code assigned to your products. Only Formal entries require the Declaration - It is not a requirement for informal entries.
What if I do not know some of the information required in the declaration?
the 2008 amendment to the Lacey Act Declaration states that the importer must declare upon importing:
the scientific name of any plant
the of the importation
the quantity including the unit of measure of the plant species
country of harvest of the plant species
All other information is preferred but not required
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service also recognizes that it can be difficult, and in some cases, impossible to provide the required information upon import. For this reason, they have developed special use designations (SUD). These designations provide relief for the trade community when completing the declarations for:
plant products that may be categorized by genus or species into common trade groups
plant products containing composite, recycled, reused or reclaimed materials
plant products that were manufactured prior to the passage of the Lacey Act Amendments
For the full list of SUDs, click here