Dear DIF Customer,

On April 19, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order authorizing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Secretary of the Treasury to postpone the payment of certain duties, taxes and fees for “importers suffering significant financial hardship because of COVID-19” for 90 days.

Deferrals are limited to entries filed in March or April 2020. This authorization only applies to entries that have not yet been filed; it does not apply to entries that have already been filed.  CBP will not return deposits of estimated duties, taxes, and fees that have already been paid.

To qualify for Significant Financial Hardship, an importer must be able to demonstrate:

• Fully or partially suspended during March 2020 or April 2020 due to orders from a competent governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings due to COVID-19.
• and as a result of such suspension, the gross receipts of such importer for March 13-31, 2020 or April 2020 are less than 60 percent of the gross receipts for the comparable period in 2019.

Entries NOT eligible for the 90-Day postponement:

• Antidumping duties,
• Countervailing duties,
• Duties assessed pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962,
• Duties assessed pursuant to Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, and
• Duties assessed pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Payment Timeframes:

Please contact DIF for further details if you are eligible.  Thank you.

Port Houston Announcement:

OPERATIONS ARE SUSPENDED AT BAYPORT AND BARBOURS CUT TERMINALS

The Port Authority has learned that someone who worked at both Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus. In light of this information, and in an abundance of caution, both public terminals are closed and operations are temporarily suspended while a thorough investigation is being conducted.  The Port Authority’s other public facilities remain open.

The Houston Ship Channel and the 200-plus private terminals that comprise the greater Port of Houston are also still operating.

The health and safety of Port Houston’s employees, users, customers and community remains its first priority. Port Houston is in communication with public authorities and health agencies while an investigation is underway.

Port Houston Customer Service staff will not be available by phone.  We will work to answer emails as best as we can.

Questions can be sent to:
BayportCustomerService@porthouston.com
BCTCustomerService@porthouston.com

All decisions on vessel schedules, demurrage, and all others will be determined as soon as possible.  All updates will be communicated as often as possible.

Port Houston will provide regular updates as warranted as this situation unfolds.

Media inquiries contact Lisa Ashley at lashley@porthouston.com or 832.247.8179.

As the impact of the COVID-19 continues, we understand the uncertainty and feel an obligation to do our part to protect our communities. The health and safety of our customers, employees, and our carriers has always been our top priority. Without these three components we would not be DIF for 36yrs. and counting.
We are closely monitoring and working with our communities, government officials, and local entities to adjust our operations and give you updates that may impact you.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 DIF is initiating for itself and asking all service providers to follow CDC guidelines for “Implementation of Mitigation Strategies” https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/community-mitigation-strategy.pdf including:

• Know where to find local information on COVID-19 and local trends of COVID-19 cases.
• Know the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and what to do if staff become symptomatic.
• Review, update, or develop workplace plans.
• Encourage employees to stay home and notify workplace administrators when sick.
• Encourage personal protective measures among staff (e.g., stay home when sick, handwashing, respiratory
etiquette).
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily and ensure hand hygiene supplies are readily available.

As always, please care for yourself, your family and your community. Thank you for being a valued customer. We look forward to playing our small part as we will get through this together.

Sincerely,
Norma J Payne
CEO

On Feb 23^rd DIF had the pleasure of assisting Paris and her team to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  This Nonprofit Organization has been instrumental to helping families with treatment cost, housing and even the development of groundbreaking medications. We were Honored, to have been asked to help in this fight.  Being part of this and seeing our DFW community come together, was such an inspiration. Good luck to Paris and her teams continue fund raising!

Thanks,

Zach Pugh

Operations Manager

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is establishing an exception to the Lacey Act import declaration requirements for products containing a minimal, or “de minimis,” amount of plant material. The Lacey Act—which combats trafficking in illegally taken wildlife, fish, or plants—requires importers to prepare an import declaration for certain plants and plant products. The import declaration must include the scientific name of the plant, value of the importation, quantity of the plant, and name of the country where the plant was harvested. However, the Lacey Act does not address whether declaration requirements are necessary for otherwise non-plant products that contain a minimal amount of plant material, such as wooden buttons on a shirt.   

To address this, APHIS published a proposed rule on July 9, 2018 inviting public comments on two options for a de minimis exception to the declaration requirement for products that contain less than a certain amount of plant material. The first option would adopt an exception for products containing plant material that constitutes no more than 5 percent of the total weight of the individual product unit, provided that the total weight of plant material does not exceed 2.9 kilograms (6.93 pounds). The second option would adopt an exception for products containing plant material that constitutes no more than 5 percent of the total weight of the individual product, provided that the total weight does not exceed a designated amount of plant material by weight or board feet.   

After reviewing all comments received, APHIS decided to adopt an option based on weight: a threshold of no more than 5 percent of the total weight of the individual product unit, provided that the total weight of the plant material in an entry of products in the same 10-digit provision of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule does not exceed 2.9 kilograms. This exception ensures that the declaration requirement fulfills the intent of the Lacey Act while reducing the regulatory burden on importers. The exception will not apply to protected plant species.   

 You can view the final rule here https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=APHIS-2013-0055-0014. 

The rule becomes effective on April 1, 2020. 

Filers can begin using the de minimis exception once the disclaimer code is established in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).  APHIS will notify stakeholders when the exception is available in ACE.  

Note: APHIS’ Lacey Act de minimis exception is not related to CBP’s de minimis exemption, which is based solely on a shipment’s value.