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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1109

To conserve global bear populations by prohibiting the importation, exportation, and interstate trade of bear viscera and items, products, or

substances containing, or labeled or advertised as containing, bear

viscera, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 24, 1999

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire, Mr. KOHL, Mr.

FRIST, Mr. GREGG, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. WARNER, Mr. CLELAND, Mr.

SCHUMER, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. AKAKA, Mrs. FEINSTEIN,

Mr. ENZI, Mr. ROBB, Mr. GRAMS, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. LUGAR, Ms.

LANDRIEU, Mr. COCHRAN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. MACK, Mr.

TORRICELLI, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CAMPBELL,

Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. HELMS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr.

GRAHAM, Mr. REID, Mr. LEVIN, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To conserve global bear populations by prohibiting the importation, exportation, and interstate trade of bear viscera

and items, products, or substances containing, or labeled

or advertised as containing, bear viscera, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bear Protection Act

3 of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) all 8 extant species of bear—Asian black

7 bear, brown bear, polar bear, American black bear,

8 spectacled bear, giant panda, sun bear, and sloth

9 bear—are listed on Appendix I or II of the Conven10 tion on International Trade in Endangered Species

11 of Wild Fauna and Flora (27 UST 1087; TIAS

12 8249) (referred to in this section as ‘‘CITES’’);

13 (2) Article XIV of CITES provides that Parties

14 to CITES may adopt stricter domestic measures re15 garding the conditions for trade, taking, possession,

16 or transport of species on Appendix I or II, and the

17 Parties to CITES adopted a resolution (Conf. 10.8)

18 urging Parties to take immediate action to demon19 strably reduce the illegal trade in bear parts and de20 rivatives;

21 (3) the Asian bear populations have declined

22 significantly in recent years, as a result of habitat

23 loss and poaching due to a strong demand for bear

24 viscera used in traditional medicines and cosmetics;
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1 (4) Federal and State undercover operations

2 have revealed that American bears have been

3 poached for their viscera;

4 (5) while most American black bear populations

5 are generally stable or increasing, commercial trade

6 could stimulate poaching and threaten certain popu7 lations if the demand for bear viscera increases; and

8 (6) prohibitions against the importation into

9 the United States and exportation from the United

10 States, as well as prohibitions against the interstate

11 trade, of bear viscera and products containing, or la12 beled or advertised as containing, bear viscera will

13 assist in ensuring that the United States does not

14 contribute to the decline of any bear population as

15 a result of the commercial trade in bear viscera.

16 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

17 The purpose of this Act is to ensure the long-term

18 viability of the world’s 8 bear species by—

19 (1) prohibiting international trade in bear

20 viscera and products containing, or labeled or adver21 tised as containing, bear viscera;

22 (2) encouraging bilateral and multilateral ef23 forts to eliminate such trade; and

24 (3) ensuring that adequate Federal legislation

25 exists with respect to domestic trade in bear viscera
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1 and products containing, or labeled or advertised as

2 containing, bear viscera.

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this Act:

5 (1) BEAR VISCERA.—The term ‘‘bear viscera’’

6 means the body fluids or internal organs, including

7 the gallbladder and its contents but not including

8 blood or brains, of a species of bear.

9 (2) IMPORT.—The term ‘‘import’’ means to

10 land on, bring into, or introduce into any place sub11 ject to the jurisdiction of the United States, whether

12 or not the landing, bringing, or introduction con13 stitutes an importation within the meaning of the

14 customs laws of the United States.

15 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means—

16 (A) an individual, corporation, partnership,

17 trust, association, or other private entity;

18 (B) an officer, employee, agent, depart19 ment, or instrumentality of—

20 (i) the Federal Government;

21 (ii) any State, municipality, or polit22 ical subdivision of a State; or

23 (iii) any foreign government;

24 (C) a State, municipality, or political sub25 division of a State; and
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1 (D) any other entity subject to the juris2 diction of the United States.

3 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

4 the Secretary of the Interior.

5 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State,

6 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

7 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Com8 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Amer9 ican Samoa, and any other territory, commonwealth,

10 or possession of the United States.

11 (6) TRANSPORT.—The term ‘‘transport’’ means

12 to move, convey, carry, or ship by any means, or to

13 deliver or receive for the purpose of movement, con14 veyance, carriage, or shipment.

15 SEC. 5. PROHIBITED ACTS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

17 (b), a person shall not—

18 (1) import into, or export from, the United

19 States bear viscera or any product, item, or sub20 stance containing, or labeled or advertised as con21 taining, bear viscera; or

22 (2) sell or barter, offer to sell or barter, pur23 chase, possess, transport, deliver, or receive, in inter24 state or foreign commerce, bear viscera or any prod-
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1 uct, item, or substance containing, or labeled or ad2 vertised as containing, bear viscera.

3 (b) EXCEPTION FOR WILDLIFE LAW ENFORCEMENT

4 PURPOSES.—A person described in subparagraph (B) or

5 (C) of section 4(3) may import into, or export from, the

6 United States, or transport between States, bear viscera

7 or any product, item, or substance containing, or labeled

8 or advertised as containing, bear viscera if the importa9 tion, exportation, or transportation—

10 (1) is solely for wildlife law enforcement pur11 poses; and

12 (2) is authorized by a valid permit issued under

13 Appendix I or II of the Convention on International

14 Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and

15 Flora (27 UST 1087; TIAS 8249), in any case in

16 which such a permit is required under the Conven17 tion.

18 SEC. 6. PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT.

19 (a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—A person that knowingly

20 violates section 5 shall be fined under title 18, United

21 States Code, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.

22 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

23 (1) AMOUNT.—A person that knowingly violates

24 section 5 may be assessed a civil penalty by the Sec25 retary of not more than $25,000 for each violation.
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1 (2) MANNER OF ASSESSMENT AND COLLEC2 TION.—A civil penalty under this subsection shall be

3 assessed, and may be collected, in the manner in

4 which a civil penalty under the Endangered Species

5 Act of 1973 may be assessed and collected under

6 section 11(a) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1540(a)).

7 (c) PRODUCTS, ITEMS, AND SUBSTANCES.—Any bear

8 viscera, or any product, item, or substance sold, imported,

9 or exported, or attempted to be sold, imported, or ex10 ported, in violation of this section (including any regula11 tion issued under this section) shall be seized and forfeited

12 to the United States.

13 (d) REGULATIONS.—After consultation with the Sec14 retary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Health and

15 Human Services, and the United States Trade Represent16 ative, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as are nec17 essary to carry out this section.

18 (e) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary, the Secretary of

19 the Treasury, and the Secretary of the department in

20 which the Coast Guard is operating shall enforce this sec21 tion in the manner in which the Secretaries carry out en22 forcement activities under section 11(e) of the Endangered

23 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1540(e)).

24 (f) USE OF PENALTY AMOUNTS.—Amounts received

25 as penalties, fines, or forfeiture of property under this sec-
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1 tion shall be used in accordance with section 6(d) of the

2 Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d)).

3 SEC. 7. DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING TRADE PRACTICES.

4 The Secretary and the Secretary of State shall dis5 cuss issues involving trade in bear viscera with the appro6 priate representatives of countries trading with the United

7 States that are determined by the Secretary and the

8 United States Trade Representative to be the leading im9 porters, exporters, or consumers of bear viscera, and at10 tempt to establish coordinated efforts with the countries

11 to protect bears.

12 SEC. 8. REPORT.

13 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment

14 of this Act, the Secretary, in cooperation with appropriate

15 State agencies, shall submit to the Committee on Environ16 ment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee

17 on Resources of the House of Representatives a report de18 tailing the progress of efforts to end the illegal trade in

19 bear viscera.

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