TSCA Import Compliance Checklist

Issue 14, April 22, 2008

The Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has developed a TSCA Import Compliance Checklist to help chemical importers determine the TSCA certification status for their chemical imports in order to be in compliance with the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). TSCA Certificates of compliance are completed by the importer and the certificates must either be a blanket certification or accompany the documentation for the shipment. The checklist is available at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemtest/pubs/checklist.pdf.

The checklist, which contains a series of yes/no questions, lays out a method of analysis that should be applied to each chemical or chemical mixture to be imported. The checklist is not the TSCA certification statement itself, and is not intended to be a required document. It is solely an aid to determine the TSCA status of the products.

Importers begin with Part I and only move to Part II if they cannot answer positively to any of the statements in this part (products for which no certification is required). Likewise the importer will move on to Part III only if none of the statements in Part II can be answered in the affirmative.

Part III of the checklist is for TSCA-Compliant /Positive Certification products. If the importer is unable to provide an affirmative answer to any of the questions in Part III the chemicals may be considered not to comply with TSCA rules and may be denied importation. In that situation the document provides additional information sources in the "Further Information" section.

Any Part II and Part III chemical substances may be held or denied entry by Customs if a certificate of compliance does not accompany the paperwork or if Customs believes that it is not in compliance with TSCA. Certification is also required for all mail or express carrier shipments.

For more information please contact Karl Krueger, DHL Regulatory Compliance at karl.krueger@dhl.com.

Sincerely,

Karl F. Krueger
Regulatory Compliance Consultant
Licensed Customs Broker
NCBFAA Certified Customs Specialist