U.S. CBP Updates on Seafood Import Restrictions – Effective Immediately

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To our seafood customers,

An update has been made by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on seafood restrictions. The agency will now require importers to provide self-certification that fish, seafood, and seafood containing products imported into the United States do not contain any inputs originating from the Russian Federation.

This includes any seafood products or components from the Russian Federation that are processed in a third country before they are imported into the United States.

Effective immediately, please send us an official company letterhead with the following self-certification statement:

The self-certification must meet the following criteria:
1. Be provided on official company letterhead in PDF format.

2. 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.”

Please read CBP’s full announcement below:

CSMS #58813725 

On December 22, 2023, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO), “Taking Additional Steps with Respect to the Russian Federation’s Harmful Activities.”

This EO amends EO 14068 issued on March 11, 2022, by addressing the circumstances where Russian origin fish, seafood, and preparations thereof underwent substantial transformation outside of the Russian Federation. The EO prohibits importation of these products if they were mined, extracted, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Russian Federation, harvested in waters under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation or by Russia-flagged vessels regardless of whether such products have been incorporated or substantially transformed into another product with a country of origin that is not the Russian Federation. 
Additional clarification has been provided by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issuing a determination which states products containing salmon, cod, pollock, and crab harvested in the Russian Federation or salmon, cod, pollock and crab harvested in the Russian Federation that has been substantially transformed into another product outside of the Russian Federation are within the scope of EO.  

Additionally, OFAC has issued GENERAL LICENSE NO. 83: “Authorizing Certain Transactions Related to Imports of Certain Categories of Fish, Seafood, and Preparations Thereof Prohibited by Executive Order 14068,” prior to December 22, 2023, are authorized through 12:01 a.m. ET, February 21, 2024.

Filing Requirements
Beginning on the effective date of EO December 22, 2023, all entry and certified from summary transactions as well as goods admitted into a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) that include the affected commodities will require a self-certification statement to be uploaded to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Document Image System (DIS).
The trade community must follow these requirements to submit the self-certification statement to DIS:
• CBP as the Agency Code;
• Other as the Official Document Name/Description;
• Other as the Document Type;
• Other as the Document Label Code;
• CBP03 as the DocCode.
The self-certification must meet the following criteria:
1. Be provided on official company letterhead in PDF format.
2. 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.”
Only one self-certification document will be required per Entry, Entry Summary or FTZ admission.
CBP will be issuing additional filing requirements under the EO once the necessary ACE enhancements are deployed. These requirements will be communicated via subsequent CSMS message.

Filing Requirements General License 83
Beginning December 22, 2023, all entry and certified from summary transactions as well as goods admitted into a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) that include the affected commodities will require an upload of purchase orders and/or executed contracts and/or any other documentation showing when the order and/or contract went into effect to be uploaded to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Document Image System (DIS).
The trade community must follow these requirements to submit the General License 83 supporting documentation to DIS:
• CBP as the Agency Code;
• Other as the Official Document Name/Description;
• Other as the Document Type;
• Other as the Document Label Code;
• CBP03 as the DocCode.
Current DIS Implementation Guide

OFAC list of HTSUS subheadings https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/added/2023-12-22

Questions concerning this issue can be addressed to the Office of Trade at CTAC@CBP.DHS.GOV

CSMS Source link: https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDHSCBP-3816d1d?wgt_ref=USDHSCBP_WIDGET_2