The Senate last night passed a measure that calls for duty reductions/eliminations on capers and pepperoncini. The duty reductions were added on to a bill, already approved by the House of Representatives, covering pensions.
The reductions were originally part of what’s referred to as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. To speed up passage of that bill, Congress added to the pension bill all the items from the MTB that were identical in both the House and the Senate. The president is expected to sign the bill shortly. The duty changes will take place 15 days after the bill is signed into law.
Capers, currently brought in under HTS#’s 2001.9010 and 2001.9020 and subject to a duty of 8 percent, will become duty free.
Pepperoncini is currently brought in under HTS#s 2001.903800 (9.6 percent duty), 2005.909700 (11.2 percent duty) and 2005.905510 (14.9 percent duty). The bill suspends duties on pepperoncini prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid and reduces to 2.2 percent the duty on pepperoncini prepared or preserved by vinegar or acetic acid in concentrations at 0.5 percent or greater.
Given the timetable above, it’s likely these changes will be in place by the end of August. Members handling these items should consider this timeframe into any shipping plans.
The duty reductions/suspension will be in place through December 31, 2009. In order to keep the changes in place, AFI will have to get a measure included on the 2008 MTB that will extend the changes for another three years.
That step is being taken now to extend the duty reductions we obtained on processed artichokes. That measure will be included on the MTB, as will bills to suspend duties on canned oysters (HTS# 1605.90.50) and giardinera, which is currently brought in under several HTS numbers. It’s fully expected the MTB will pass before the year ends.
