APHIS Can Accept Data for Type 86 Entries to Speed Release
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's new automated message process for plants, vegetables and fruit imports (see 230707001) will help importers know more quickly if they have submitted a species or subspecies that doesn't exist, and, if accurate data is submitted ahead of arrival, should help cargo get released more quickly.
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Richard Leshin, management and program analyst with USDA quarantine analysis and support group, who coordinates the APHIS messages in ACE, said on a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America webinar that submitting correct and full data before the product reaches the port is key. "APHIS does accept entry type 86," he said, and APHIS will need the entry number early. "If you use the type 86, it’ll help more efficiently process cargo," he said Aug. 2.
APHIS covers most agricultural imports but not goods coming from Canada. Those imports go through a CBP inspection process, which will not change.
However, Marla Cazier, an APHIS official who also spoke on the webinar, reminded importers that if the product is being shipped from Canada to the U.S., but is not of Canadian origin, it still needs to have an APHIS permit, and it will go to a plant inspection station run by APHIS.
If that is the case, applicants seeking a permit can choose among 16 stations for inspection, unless it is an item that is required to go to Beltsville, Maryland. In that case, the permit application process will alert the applicant.
Leshin walked importers through reasons they could get a "data is incorrect" message or a "data rejected per PGA review." He said the "incorrect" message could occur if the genus or species is not on the approved list, or the permit date is in the past, and the "rejected" message could come from inaccurate or missing data for a species or subspecies.
He said importers can also get a message if they send a minor update after APHIS has received the information and officials believe it is correct.
"APHIS has already approved all the information you sent before," he said. "Inspection has already begun. We’re good to go, so the expectation is we’re just going to ignore that new entry and nothing material has changed." But if something material did change, he said, contact the station.
Those who don't understand why they received a message should contact the APHIS help desk at (833) 481-2102 or Ace.itds@usda.gov.
Importers who don't know if the good needs an APHIS permit should visit https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/, where they can type in a scientific name or a common name of a species. If the product doesn't need a permit, APHIS will provide a letter that says no permit needed.