New Lacey Act Requirement

Drumset

A wide range of imported musical instruments -- including drums, clarinets, flutes and piccolos -- will be required to file a Lacey Act import declaration form according to information provided by the Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Lacey Act was expanded in 2008 to include all plants and plant products (including wood). It has two parts:

  1. It is unlawful to import, export, buy or sell within the U.S. any plant product obtained in violation of any U.S. or foreign law that protects plants.
  2. Any imported product containing wood or other plant material must be accompanied by an import declaration (APHIS Form PPQ 505) which includes, among other things, the genus and species of all wood contained in the product, the country of harvest, the quantity of each type of wood and the value on entry.

Notwithstanding the broad scope of the import declaration requirement, APHIS has been phasing in compliance over the past decade. It first declared that the filing requirement is only applicable to formal imports, i.e., it excludes instruments accompanying traveling musicians.

Effective April 1, 2010, the import declaration requirement was made applicable to pianos (including player pianos, harpsichords, and other stringed keyboard instruments) defined in Harmonized Tariff Schedule 9201 and "other stringed instruments" (including acoustic guitars, violins, and harps) in HTS 9202.

Now, the import declaration requirement will be applicable to imported products falling within the following HTS codes:

  • 9205.90.20.00 -- wind musical instruments, bagpipes
  • 9205.90.40.20 -- clarinets
  • 9205.90.40.60 -- flutes and piccolos
  • 9205.90.40.80 -- other woodwind instruments
  • 9206.00.20.00 -- drums
  • 9207.90.00.40 -- fretted stringed instruments, the sound of which is produced or must be amplified electrically.
  • 9209.92 -- parts and accessories for musical instruments (e.g., instrument stands, tuning pins, bows)
  • 9209.92.80.80 -- parts and accessories for musical instruments, other
  • 9209.99.20.00 -- parts and accessories for bagpipes
  • 9209.99.40.40 -- parts and accessories for other woodwind instruments
  • 9209.99.80.00 -- parts and accessories for musical instruments, other

Further information on HTS code descriptions can be found at https://hts.usitc.gov/current. Musical Instruments are found in Chapter 92.

The import declaration form must be filed electronically or in paper format by the importer although as a practical matter the information required by the form must be obtained from the product manufacturer or exporter.

More detailed information on Lacey Act requirements can be found at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act

The European musical instrument organization CSFI has p5repared a guidance document for European manufacturers and exporters, but it can also be helpful to U.S. importers. It can be found at https://www.csfi-musique.fr/reglementations/lacey-act