FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ABANDONS CUSTOMS? ABI

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ABANDONS CUSTOMSÆ ABI    The U.S. Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service said that it will end its electronic interface with Customs’ Automated Broker Interface system on July 3.
   Instead of filing Fish and Wildlife form 3-177 in ABI, importers or their customs brokers will only submit the paper form during the customs clearance process. Filers must present copies of the cleared Fish and Wildlife declarations to Customs to release their shipments.
   In the past, Fish and Wildlife’s use of ABI allowed for paperless release of certain captive-bred non-protected furs. These types of shipments will now come under document review process.
   To ease the transition, Customs encourages filers not to file their Fish and Wildlife-related entries in ABI a week before July 3. Afterward, filers may resume transmitting ABI entries for cargo subject to Fish and Wildlife review, but these entries will require submission of the paper FWS form 3-177 to both Fish and Wildlife and Customs.
   Fish and Wildlife announced its intention to abandon ABI last December. The agency complained that ABI didn’t adequately provide the import-related information that it needed for its enforcement work.
   In addition, the agency complained about amount of data it could release to the public from ABI, the inability to make corrections during the entry process and the cost increase of the agency's interface to ABI.
   For more information, contact Fish and Wildlife’s Law Enforcement Division at (703) 358-1949.