Commerce Seeks Paperwork Feedback on Seafood Import Certifications
Published Date: 6/25/2026
Notice
Summary
The Department of Commerce wants your feedback on updating rules for importing certain fish and fish products to protect marine life. This affects businesses that import seafood and aims to keep harmful fishing practices in check without adding extra paperwork. Comments are open until August 24, 2026, so now’s the time to weigh in!
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 2 costs, 1 mixed.
Estimated compliance time and software costs
NOAA estimates about 2,700 business respondents will file on average 22 COA-related entries each year, with an estimated total annual burden of 27,720 hours. NOAA estimates total annual costs to the public of $550,000, including an up-front $1,000 per entry filer for entry-filing software enhancements and $100 per entry filer annually for software maintenance; it also estimates 18 minutes to complete the COA form and electronic message set and 10 minutes to validate and upload the COA image.
Paper COAs moving to electronic filing
NOAA proposes to stop relying on paper Certification of Admissibility (COA) forms and require entry filers (importers or customs brokers) to submit COA data electronically into U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). Importers must upload an image of the completed COA to the ACE Document Image System (DIS) and submit an electronic message set with required fields at time of entry.
MMPA import prohibitions raised COA demand
NOAA notes that import prohibitions under the Marine Mammal Protection Act went into effect on January 1, 2026 for products from 240 fisheries in 46 nations that were denied comparability findings, which greatly increased COA usage. That increase strained importers and foreign governments and is a reason NOAA proposes the COA form and electronic entry changes so NMFS can update import restrictions and improve enforcement more quickly as nations reapply.
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Key Dates
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