New ASEPA requirement — forms for pesticide importation

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency (AS-EPA) has launched a public awareness program on a new requirement for the importation of any pesticides or devices, after the agency conducted workshops with suppliers and Customs agents.

Effective Aug. 1, 202, a NOTICE OF INTENT (NOI) and NOTICE OF ARRIVAL (NOA) Forms must be filled out and submitted to AS-EPA prior to the importation and arrival of any pesticides or devices into the Territory, according to the AS-EPA special notice published in last Friday’s Samoa News edition.

The NOI Form must be completed by anyone who wishes to import pesticides or devises for personal use or for sale and distribution. Upon completion, an NOI Form must be submitted to AS-EPA for their review and pre-approval process. Once the NOI Form is pre-approved, a NOA Form must be completed and submitted to AS-EPA prior to the arrival of the pesticides or devices into the Territory. The NOI and NOA Forms can be downloaded online (at: www.epa.as.gov).

Since last month, AS-EPA Education Division officials Tumua Lokeni and Liu Lafaele have discussed the pesticides forms on the agency’s weekly programs on two local radio stations. ASEPA has also conducted workshops with business representatives as well as Customs agents, who will be the ones dealing with the NOI and NOA at the territory’s ports of entry.

For more information on the NOI/NOA forms and the process for importing pesticides and devices into American Samoa, please contact AS-EPA at 684-633-2304.