Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Fish Import Certification of Admissibility

NOAA Fisheries is seeking comments on its notice to revise regulations concerning the use of the Certification of Admissibility (COA), which allows entry of fish or fish products that are otherwise subject to trade restrictions. The use of its COA form facilitates entry of certain fish and fish products when a nation is otherwise subject to a fish trade embargo under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) or High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium Protection Act).

The MMPA and Moratorium Protection Act contain provisions to restrict U.S. imports of fishery products harvested under conditions that do not meet U.S. standards in areas of proper fishing authorization or mitigation of protected species bycatch. The proposed revisions would transition the paper-based COA to an electronic filing and expand the required admissibility information collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). These changes would support the continued facilitation of enforcement of trade restrictions while reducing the reporting and record-keeping burden on the trade community. NOAA Fisheries will work with CBP to engage affected stakeholders and seek input on the entry process of the COA in the Automated Commercial Environment, which is used to apply fish product trade restrictions.

• Public comments can be submitted via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal at https://www.regulations.gov and entering 2022-15865 in the Search box by August 24, 2022.
• By mail to: NMFS Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, Attn.: Christopher Rogers, F/IATC 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910