Free tool · No signup · Lacey Act
Enter the lines of a Lacey Act declaration and get the XML file APHIS's Lacey Act Web Governance System takes on its Merchandise page, built to the schema inside APHIS's own template. No Excel, no account.
One line per article, one row per species. Start from the example or clear it.
2 rows from 1 line, 1 left out
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<ns1:merchandiseList xmlns:ns1="http://lawgs.aphis.usda.gov">
<ns1:merchandise>
<ns1:lineNumber>001</ns1:lineNumber>
<ns1:htsusNumber>4407110001</ns1:htsusNumber>
<ns1:enteredValue>24320.00</ns1:enteredValue>
<ns1:articleComponent>Sawn softwood lumber, kiln-dried, 2x4</ns1:articleComponent>
<ns1:genus>Picea</ns1:genus>
<ns1:species>glauca</ns1:species>
<ns1:country>Canada</ns1:country>
<ns1:quantityMaterial>45.3070</ns1:quantityMaterial>
<ns1:unit>m3</ns1:unit>
<ns1:percentRecycled>0</ns1:percentRecycled>
<ns1:billOfLading>HDMUBUSA240911</ns1:billOfLading>
<ns1:containerNumber>HDMU6543210</ns1:containerNumber>
</ns1:merchandise>
<ns1:merchandise>
<ns1:lineNumber>001</ns1:lineNumber>
<ns1:htsusNumber>4407110001</ns1:htsusNumber>
<ns1:enteredValue>24320.00</ns1:enteredValue>
<ns1:articleComponent>Sawn softwood lumber, kiln-dried, 2x4</ns1:articleComponent>
<ns1:genus>Pinus</ns1:genus>
<ns1:species>contorta</ns1:species>
<ns1:country>Canada</ns1:country>
<ns1:quantityMaterial>15.1023</ns1:quantityMaterial>
<ns1:unit>m3</ns1:unit>
<ns1:percentRecycled>0</ns1:percentRecycled>
<ns1:billOfLading>HDMUBUSA240911</ns1:billOfLading>
<ns1:containerNumber>HDMU6543210</ns1:containerNumber>
</ns1:merchandise>
</ns1:merchandiseList>
Built to the schema inside APHIS's own Merchandise_Template.xlsx. The file holds the article rows only: the entry number, importer, consignee and arrival date are keyed on the declaration itself in LAWGS, where the importer or their broker uploads this file. Senda files nothing with APHIS or CBP.
What LAWGS is
The Lacey Act makes it illegal to import wood taken in breach of the law where it grew, and makes the importer declare what the wood is and where it was harvested, species by species. APHIS takes that declaration two ways: through CBP's ACE, as part of the entry, or in its own site, LAWGS. In LAWGS the shipment's header is keyed by hand and the article rows come in as a file: Excel's XML export of APHIS's template, with up to 10,000 rows. This page writes that file.
2008
Lacey Act amended to cover plants and wood
Dec 2024
Phase VII: furniture, cork and more need a declaration
Jan 2026
Paper PPQ 505 no longer accepted; ACE or LAWGS only
Getting in
From APHIS's own first-access guide. The whole sign-in is USDA eAuthentication, so the first time takes about an hour and the second about a minute.
Start from LAWGS
Open lawgs.aphis.usda.gov and click Log In. That sends you to eAuthentication with LAWGS as the return address. Choose Customer, then Login.gov.
Create the Login.gov account
Email, the confirmation link, a password and at least two second-factor methods. A Level 1 account is all LAWGS needs; no identity proofing.
Create or join an organization
An Importer account for the importer of record, or a Broker account that files for importers who hand it a Broker Key Code. Or join with the 8-character PIN your administrator issues.
Create the declaration
Entry Number page, General page, Shipment page: entry number, importer, consignee, estimated arrival, containers and bills of lading.
Upload the file
On the Merchandise page open Option 2, click Upload Spreadsheet, choose the .xml, then Save as Work in Progress. Fix anything LAWGS names, and submit.
Help with LAWGS: the PCIT and LAWGS Help Desk, pcithelpdesk@usda.gov or 1-866-457-7248. Questions about the declaration itself: lacey.act.declaration@usda.gov.
The file, field by field
Open any field for what LAWGS wants, the rule the template enforces, and an example. The builder above applies every one of them.
lineNumberWhat LAWGS wants
Which article of the declaration the row belongs to.
The rule
Exactly three digits, 001 to 999. Rows that share a line number, HTSUS number, entered value and article are grouped into one article.
Example
001
htsusNumberWhat LAWGS wants
The US tariff line of the article.
The rule
Exactly ten digits, no dots. LAWGS checks the number against its own tariff table when you upload.
Example
4407110001
enteredValueWhat LAWGS wants
The value of the article as entered with CBP, in US dollars.
The rule
A positive number with at most twelve digits before the point and two after. No commas, no dollar sign. Repeat the line's value on every species row of that line.
Example
24320.00
articleComponentWhat LAWGS wants
What the line is, in words.
The rule
Up to 50 characters.
Example
Sawn softwood lumber, kiln-dried
genusWhat LAWGS wants
The scientific genus of the plant material.
The rule
Up to 50 characters. Common names are not accepted anywhere in LAWGS.
Example
Picea
speciesWhat LAWGS wants
The species. If the wood could be one of several, each possible species is its own row.
The rule
Up to 50 characters. A Special Use Designation for wood that cannot be named is entered in LAWGS itself, not through the file.
Example
glauca
countryWhat LAWGS wants
Where the plant was harvested, which is not always where the product was made.
The rule
One of the names in the template's country list, spelled exactly as listed: a name, not an ISO code.
Example
Korea, Republic of
quantityMaterialWhat LAWGS wants
How much of this species is in the line.
The rule
A number zero or greater with at most twelve digits before the point and four after. No commas.
Example
45.2500
unitWhat LAWGS wants
The unit the quantity is in.
The rule
One of sixteen metric units: cg, cm, cm2, cm3, ctl, g, kg, kl, L, m, ml, m2, m3, mm, mm2, mm3. No board feet: one board foot is 0.002359737 m³.
Example
m3
percentRecycledWhat LAWGS wants
The share of the material that is recycled, for products that carry recycled content.
The rule
0 to 100, at most four decimals. Leave it blank when it does not apply.
Example
0
billOfLadingWhat LAWGS wants
The bill the shipment travels under.
The rule
Up to 16 characters. The same value on every row.
Example
HDMUBUSA240911
manufacturerIdCodeWhat LAWGS wants
The CBP manufacturer identification code (MID) of the maker.
The rule
Up to 16 characters.
Example
CAHANTIM77BUS
containerNumberWhat LAWGS wants
The container the article travels in.
The rule
Up to 20 characters. One container per row; a line split across containers is entered in LAWGS.
Example
HDMU6543210
* marked required on APHIS's own template. The upload fails when a starred field is missing; the others are what a complete declaration carries.
Country of harvest
The template's country field is a drop-down of names, and the file must carry the exact spelling. Type a code or a common name.
The exact spelling LAWGS's drop-down uses is what the file must carry. 242 countries are listed.
Where it stops
Worth knowing before the file goes into a declaration.
On every wood shipment
The tally and the order lines already hold most of what the declaration asks for. Senda keeps the rest on the shipment and writes the file when the lines are complete.
Genus, species, country of harvest, quantity, value and percent recycled are saved on the shipment for each order line, with genus and species filled in from the tally where the species is known, and asked for where it is not.
For a US import, the complete lines download as the LAWGS merchandise upload file, validated against APHIS's schema, with every line left out named beside it with what it still needs. The same file goes in the broker packet.
Senda prepares the data; the importer or their broker files the declaration, in LAWGS or through ACE. Senda files nothing with APHIS or CBP.
Rather see it than read it? Watch the product overview.
Questions
The Lacey Act Web Governance System, APHIS's own website for filing the Lacey Act Plant and Plant Product Declaration (PPQ Form 505). It is the alternative to filing the declaration through CBP's ACE. Since 1 January 2026 APHIS no longer accepts the paper PPQ 505 or 505B, so every declaration goes through one of the two.
An XML file produced from APHIS's own Excel template, Merchandise_Template.xlsx, with Excel's 'Save As → XML Data'. The template's embedded XML map is the schema: a merchandiseList of merchandise rows, thirteen fields in a fixed order, in the namespace http://lawgs.aphis.usda.gov. This page builds that file directly, so you do not need Excel.
On the Merchandise page of a declaration you are creating in LAWGS, under 'Option 2: Upload Merchandise From an Excel Spreadsheet'. Click 'Upload Spreadsheet' and choose the .xml file. Up to 10,000 rows per file. The uploaded rows are read-only until you click 'Save as Work in Progress'.
Open LAWGS and click Log In: it uses USDA eAuthentication, and a Level 1 account is enough. Customer accounts are issued through Login.gov. On first entry you either create an organization (an Importer account for the importer of record, or a Broker account for a customs broker) or join an existing organization with the PIN its administrator gives you. APHIS limits organizations to US importers of record, foreign importers of record who qualify under CBP rules, and US customs brokers with a power of attorney.
Because the template's country field is a drop-down of names, and the file has to carry the exact spelling: 'Korea, Republic of', 'Viet Nam', 'Czech Republic', 'Turkey'. The lookup on this page gives the right spelling for any ISO code or common name.
The Lacey Act requires each species in a shipment to be declared with its country of harvest and quantity. LAWGS groups consecutive rows that share the line number, HTSUS number, entered value and article into one article, so an article made of three species is three rows that repeat those four values.
No. LAWGS's unit list is metric: cg, cm, cm2, cm3, ctl, g, kg, kl, L, m, ml, m2, m3, mm, mm2 and mm3. Lumber in board feet is converted to cubic metres at 1 board foot = 0.002359737 m³, the figure LAWGS itself shows.
No. Senda prepares the data and the file; the importer or their customs broker files the declaration, in LAWGS or through ACE. Senda files nothing with APHIS or US Customs and Border Protection.
It is free and needs no account. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type leaves it unless you send the form under the file. Inside the Senda workspace the same file is built from a shipment's tally and order lines, for every wood shipment.
Keep reading
Lacey Act on every wood shipment
Tell us how the tally, the order lines and the broker packet run in your team today, and we'll walk one real order-to-shipment workflow with you before anything is signed.
