The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) instructed US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to expand the scope of the ban on Russian Seafood entering the United States. OFAC applied the ban to categories of cod, pollock, salmon and crab produced in Russia, or harvested in Russian waters or by a Russian flag vessel, even if the fish was incorporated in or substantially transformed into a product of a third country.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will now require importers to provide self-certification that fish, seafood, and seafood containing products imported into the U.S. do not contain any inputs originating from the Russian Federation.
The self-certification must meet the following criteria:
- Be provided on official company letterhead in PDF format.
- Contain the statement:
“I certify that any such products in this shipment were not harvested in waters under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation or by Russia-flagged vessels, notwithstanding whether such product has been incorporated or substantially transformed into another product outside of the Russian Federation.”
The NCBFAA (National Customs Broker and Freight Forwarder Association of America) met with CBP to discuss the implementation of the ban. The following guidance was provided in the meeting:
- The self-certification statement must be signed and dated by an officer/manager of the Importer of Record on company letterhead.
- The self-certification statement cannot be incorporated on the commercial invoice.
- The self-certification statement applies entry-by-entry. Blanket statements are not allowed.
- The entry number on the certification is “helpful” but not required.
- OFAC has added additional HTS numbers to the original list of banned cod, pollock, salmon and crab categories. The complete list (including January updates) is shown on OFAC website.
- The agency expects the Importer to exercise reasonable care to verify the origin of the seafood. CBP commented that catch records are already required by the EU so they should not be hard to gather.
- CBP may ask for supporting documents at time of entry to validate the certification. Documents will be reviewed prior to release to determine admissibility.
- There is no de minimis amount of Russian seafood allowed in a product. Even a small percentage of Russian seafood triggers the ban.
- Seafood shipments in the relevant HTS numbers cannot be moved to a bonded warehouse.
- CBP stated that if the origin of the seafood is not known and cannot be determined, the Importer should assume it is of Russian origin.
If you have any questions, please contact transitionteamus@willsonintl.com