With few exceptions, businesses or
individuals must file FWS Form 3-177 with the Fish and Wildlife
Service prior to importing into or exporting from the United States
any fish, wildlife, or wildlife products. The information on FWS
Form 3-177 helps us fulfill the statutory requirements of the
Endangered Species Act and our obligations under the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species. In 2009, we implemented
a new user fee system intended to recover the costs of the
compliance portion of the wildlife inspection program. Since that
time, we have been made aware that we may have placed an undue
economic burden on businesses that exclusively trade in small
volumes of low-value, non-Federally protected wildlife parts and
products. To address this issue, we implemented a program that
exempts certain businesses from the designated port base inspection
fees as an interim measure while we reassess the current user fee
system. In order to participate in our user fee exemption program
for low-risk importations and exportations, importers or exporters
must certify electronically that they meet the criteria for
inclusion in the program.
We are reporting 184,303
responses totaling 32,929 annual burden hours, which is an
adjustment increase of 2,303 responses and a decrease of 488 burden
hours. In addition to increasing our estimated number of responses
based on our experience over the last 3 years, this ICR includes
the addition of 1,000 hours for fee waiver certifications
(currently approved under 1018-0152). The decrease in burden hours
can be attributed to the increase in the number of FWS Forms 3-177
that will be submitted electronically.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.