U.S. Lacey Act
The Lacey Act is a 1900 United States law that bans trafficking in illegal wildlife. In 2008, the Act was amended to include plants and plant products such as timber and paper. This landmark legislation is the world’s first ban on trade in illegally sourced wood products.
Redline text of the amended U.S. Lacey Act (PDF, 7 pages, 81 Kb)
Frequently Asked Questions about the Lacey Act
This publication answers twelve of the most commonly asked questions about the U.S. Lacey Act and provides a useful schedule of potential criminal and civil penalties for violations.
Factsheet: Are You Ready for the Lacey Act?
Designed to be useful for U.S. companies dealing with wood products, this factsheet includes information about potential compliance strategies and the role of third-party certification programs.
Setting the Story Straight
This publication corrects some commonly encountered misconceptions about what the Lacey Act stipulates, how it is enforced, and how companies can comply with its requirements.
U.S. Government Documents and Links
Download the Plant and Plant Product Declaration Form (PDF, 4 pages, 349 Kb), now required for many types of plant and plant product imports into the United States. (To see whether a particular type of plant product is covered by this requirement, check the declaration form phase-in schedule.)
In order to fill out the declaration form correctly, importers generally need to know the scientific name of the wood species being imported.
Search the Common Name Database operated by the Forest Service to look up the scientific names of tree species used in wood products.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has information on the amended Lacey Act, along with useful CBP guidance on Lacey Act declarations.
The Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a primary implementing agency for the amended Lacey Act. See APHIS’s website for a wealth of information on the Lacey Act, including FAQs, guidance on import declarations, and direct contact information. The site also offers the opportunity to be registered as a stakeholder in the declaration requirement implementation process and receive regular updates from APHIS.
View the 9/2/09 Federal Register on the Lacey Act. Includes most current declaration phase-in schedule.
View the 9/29/09 Federal Register on the Lacey Act.
View the 8/4/10 Federal Register on the Lacey Act.
View the comments on the Federal Register.
Lacey Act Case Law
On November 17, 2009, U.S. federal agents raided Gibson Guitar Corp.’s Nashville, Tennessee manufacturing facility. The raid was part of an investigation into the illegal trade of a rare wood species allegedly used in some of Gibson’s renowned musical instruments. According to press reports, agents seized wood, guitars, and documents in the fi rst known enforcement action under the recently amended Lacey Act. Widely covered in the media, the raid was a wake-up call to all businesses that are part of forest product supply chains that they need to heed the Lacey Act.
Check back soon for updates…
The following briefs provide information on several precedent-setting cases under the Lacey Act, all of which relate to wildlife.
McNab vs. United States of America and Blandford, Schoenwetter, and Huang v. United States of America (PDF, 1 page, 82 Kb)
United States vs. 2,507 Live Canary-Winged Parakeets (PDF, 1 page, 58 Kb)
United States vs. 144,744 Pounds of Blue King Crab (PDF, 1 page, 56 Kb)
United States vs. 594,464 Pounds of Salmon (PDF, 1 page, 54 Kb)
U.S. vs. Fountain (PDF, 1 page, 58 Kb)
U.S. vs. One Afghan Sheep (PDF, 1 page, 57 Kb)
Download the PDF (PDF, 7 pages, 37 Kb) of the final solicitor’s decision in U.S. Department of the Interior vs. Three pallets of tropical hardwood, a recent Lacey Act enforcement case. To learn more about the decision, see “Declarations and Due Care: Insights from Another Lacey Case” (also available in Spanish).