[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 182 (Friday, September 18, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 58321-58322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19506]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 2018-00653]
RIN 0648-BG51


Commerce Trusted Trader Program; Withdrawal

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; withdrawal.

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[[Page 58322]]

SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) withdraws the 
Commerce Trusted Trader Program proposed rule, which published in the 
Federal Register on January 17, 2018. The proposed voluntary program 
was intended to offer qualified importers electing to participate in 
the program a reduction in reporting and recordkeeping requirements and 
streamlined entry into U.S. commerce for seafood imports subject to the 
Seafood Import Monitoring Program. Upon consideration of public 
comment, NMFS has determined that this program will not provide the 
anticipated benefits to industry.

DATES: The proposed rule published on January 17, 2018, (83 FR 2412), 
is withdrawn as of September 18, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachael Confair or Dale Jones, NOAA 
Fisheries Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection, (301) 
427-8301.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    NMFS published a proposed rule on January 17, 2018 (83 FR 2412) 
requesting comment on a voluntary Commerce Trusted Trader Program 
(CTTP), which would offer limited reductions to the burden of 
compliance in meeting the reporting and recordkeeping requirements of 
the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). Importers electing to 
participate would submit an application package including a Compliance 
Plan, and, once approved, would be required to conduct internal product 
trace backs (at least one trace-back annually for each SIMP species 
imported) and hire certified third party auditors annually to verify 
their adherence to their Compliance Plan in order to maintain Commerce 
Trusted Trader (CTT) status.
    In the proposed rule, NMFS estimated that the CTTP would 
financially benefit the largest 216 of roughly 2,000 importers subject 
to SIMP reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and would create an 
annual industry-wide cost savings of approximately $806,810. However, 
numerous public comments noted that the estimated cost of compliance 
with the proposed CTTP was unrealistically low, as NMFS's estimate did 
not include staff time to perform internal product trace backs, review 
and respond to annual third party audit reports, and update the 
importer's Compliance Plan regularly. In consideration of these public 
comments, NMFS prepared revised cost estimates that incorporated these 
changes. The revised cost estimate resulted in an industry-wide cost to 
implement the CTTP, rather than a cost savings, when applied to the 
largest 216 importers of SIMP species. At this revised mid-range 
estimate, only the 41 importers (of 2,000 total) with the highest 
quantity of entries subject to SIMP in a given year would realize a 
cost savings. One commenter estimated that third party trace backs 
would cost $30,000 ($10,000/species for three trace backs), which far 
exceeded the proposed rule estimate of $2,240 per species for this 
annual requirement. NMFS finds the commenter's estimate acceptable as 
an upper bound. Using a revised $30,000 cost for third party trace 
backs, only the largest three importers of seafood products subject to 
reporting and recordkeeping requirements of SIMP would financially 
benefit from the CTTP, yielding a negligible estimated industry-wide 
annual cost savings of $15,880.
    Reinforcing the limitations of cost savings, several commenters 
expressed that the CTTP would not offer sufficient relief from SIMP 
requirements to incentivize participation, noting that companies have 
already invested substantial resources to comply with the requirements 
of SIMP, and that it may not be cost effective for these importers to 
become CTTs as that would entail additional investments to comply with 
this voluntary program. NMFS agrees, but did not receive suggestions 
for alternative measures to provide importers relief from SIMP 
reporting burdens that would not undermine the stated objective of 
SIMP, which is to prevent illegally harvested or misrepresented seafood 
from entering U.S. commerce. Therefore, NMFS decided to withdraw the 
proposed rule.
    Several commenters discussed the connection between Illegal, 
Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and forced labor, noting the 
value of SIMP data in identifying forced labor in seafood supply 
chains. Commenters are correct in their assessment that SIMP data has 
applications in enforcing human rights laws; U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection has successfully used SIMP entry filing data to identify 
forced labor in seafood supply chains and prevented these products from 
entering U.S. commerce. While the consideration of impacts to efforts 
to combat forced labor was not a determining factor in the decision to 
withdraw this rule, the decision will keep all SIMP entry filing data 
requirements in place, thereby eliminating the data availability 
concerns identified by the commenters.
    The withdrawal of this proposed rule does not preclude NMFS from 
reinstituting rulemaking concerning the issue addressed. Should NMFS 
decide to undertake such rulemaking in the future, we will re-propose 
the action and provide new opportunities for comment. You may wish to 
review the SIMP website (http://www.iuufishing.noaa.gov) for any 
current guidance on this matter.

    Dated: August 28, 2020.
Alexa Cole,
Director, Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-19506 Filed 9-17-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P