The Lacey Act Sample Clauses

The Lacey Act. The Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. § 3371 et seq., is one of the primary federal statutes employed to combat the illicit trafficking of wildlife and natural products. Relevant to this case, the Lacey Act prohibits the importation of illegally-harvested timber into the U.S. This prohibition helps to ensure, amongst other things, that the U.S. timber industry is competing on a level playing field. It also reduces the role of the U.S. as a driver of illegal timber harvest globally, such as in the Amazon rainforest or, in this case, the habitat of the last remaining Siberian tigers. The Lacey Act also requires importers of timber products to complete a Plant and Plant Product Declaration, commonly referred to as a “PPQ-505” or a “Lacey Act Declaration,” and submit that declaration to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS). 16 U.S.C. § 3372(f)(1). This declaration requires an accurate description of the timber product imported, including the scientific genus and species, the total amount of timber product, and the country from which the timber was harvested. The declaration is intended to promote the exercise of due care in sourcing by importers, as well as provide data used by regulatory and enforcement bodies to inform compliance efforts.