Minor changes associated with a proposed rule to revise HMS international trade permitting and reporting requirements (RIN 0648-AU88)

Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Dealer Reporting Family of Forms

0648-0040

Minor changes associated with a proposed rule to revise HMS international trade permitting and reporting requirements (RIN 0648-AU88)

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has proposed to modify permitting and reporting requirements for the HMS International Trade Permit (ITP) to improve program efficacy and enforceability. The modified regulations would also require that shark fin importers, exporters, and re-exporters obtain the HMS ITP for NMFS to better understand commerce of shark fins, and would implement the definition of “import” contained in the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act (MSRA)(Public Law 109-479). A revision for NMFS information collection 0648-0327, the HMS Permit Family of Forms has been prepared, including a supporting statement and OMB83i.

Minor revisions to the HMS Dealer Reporting Family of Forms (0648-0040) are also proposed; however, there would be no change to the number of entities affected, and extremely minor changes, if any, to the associated reporting burden and costs. A short description of these changes is described below.

The proposed rule would adjust NMFS regulations to indicate that reports associated with the HMS ITP and Atlantic Tunas Dealer Permit holder biweekly reporting must be received via mail or fax by a date certain rather than postmarked by a date certain, and would clarify when the use of fax was appropriate for report submission. There would be no change in reporting amount or frequency as a result of this adjustment. There could be a slight decrease in costs to dealers who choose to submit reports via fax as a result of the clarification in the regulations.

The proposed rule would also clarify that HMS ITP holders who export a domestically landed bluefin tuna would NOT be required to file a biweekly report if all the relevant information was reported by another permit holder, for example, the Atlantic tunas dealer permit (ATDP) holder who landed the fish. This adjustment could result in a slight decrease in reporting for HMS ITP holders; however the amount is unknown and is expected to be minimal. This adjustment is proposed particularly to synchronize the HMS regulations with operational practices that relieve the individuals who concurrently hold an HMS ITP and ATDP from filing two separate biweekly reports for the landing and export of a bluefin tuna.

At this time, no burden or costs changes are requested; changes in burden or cost based on the above requested actions will be assessed at the time of the next revision or renewal of this collection.