The official notice instituting APHIS-CORE is expected to be published in the Federal Register this January. APHIS-CORE is the program that will institute mandatory electronic filing of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data elements through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).
APHIS-CORE incorporates the electronic transmission of data elements currently provided on USDA forms such as import permits, phytosanitary certificates, and health certificates. There will be a few exceptions for documents that will remain paper and/or required to be uploaded through the CBP Document Imaging System (DIS). APHIS has published an Implementation Guide and a Supplementary Trade Guide.
The reports suggest that a minimum six (6) month informed compliance period will precede the implementation to allow brokers, importers and the trade community to adapt to the mandatory changes.  There are 2,052 U.S. Harmonized Tariff System numbers impacted by this program. The agricultural commodities impacted range from livestock, cut flowers, potted plants, produce, grains, feed to agricultural machinery.
Willson International is continuing to follow this developing situation and new information will be available in upcoming eNews articles. If you are not currently signed up for eNews, you can do so here.