I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1184 

To amend the Animal Health Protection Act with respect to the importation 

of live dogs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2023 

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota (for himself, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. CRAWFORD, 

Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. WITTMAN, and Ms. 

MCCOLLUM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Animal Health Protection Act with respect 

to the importation of live dogs, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Dog Importa5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPORTATION OF LIVE DOGS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Health Protection 

8 Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

9 section 10404 (7 U.S.C. 8303) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 10404A. IMPORTATION OF LIVE DOGS. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) IMPORTER.—The term ‘importer’ means 

4 any person who transports or causes the transpor5 tation of a dog into the United States from a foreign 

6 country. 

7 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER.—The term ‘transfer’ means a 

8 change of ownership or control of an imported dog 

9 to another person, including by sale, adoption, ex10 change, or donation. 

11 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (3), no person shall import a dog into the 

14 United States unless, as determined by the Sec15 retary, the dog— 

16 ‘‘(A) is in good health; 

17 ‘‘(B) has received all necessary vaccina18 tions, internal and external parasite treatment, 

19 and demonstrated negative test results, as re20 quired by the Secretary and evidenced by a cer21 tificate that— 

22 ‘‘(i) is issued by a licensed veteri23 narian accredited by a competent veteri24 nary authority recognized by the Secretary; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is endorsed by that authority in 

2 a manner representing that the veteri3 narian issuing the certificate was author4 ized to do so; and 

5 ‘‘(C) is officially identified by a permanent 

6 method approved by the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER.—Except as provided in para8 graph (3), no person shall import or cause the trans9 portation of a dog into the United States from a for10 eign country for the purpose of transfer unless, as 

11 determined by the Secretary, the dog— 

12 ‘‘(A) meets the criteria described in para13 graph (1); 

14 ‘‘(B) is at least 6 months old; and 

15 ‘‘(C) is accompanied by an import permit 

16 issued by the Secretary under this Act. 

17 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary, by regula18 tion, shall provide an exception to any requirement 

19 under this Act in any case in which a dog is im20 ported for purposes of transfer for— 

21 ‘‘(A) research purposes; 

22 ‘‘(B) veterinary treatment, paid for by the 

23 importer, subject to the condition that the 

24 dog— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is taken directly to a veterinary 

2 facility for treatment with appropriate 

3 quarantine until the dog meets the criteria 

4 described in paragraph (1); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) is then exported to its country of 

6 origin; or 

7 ‘‘(C) in the case of a dog that is less than 

8 6 months old, lawful importation into the State 

9 of Hawaii in compliance with the regulations of 

10 the State of Hawaii and the other requirements 

11 of this section, if the dog is not transported out 

12 of the State of Hawaii for transfer at less than 

13 6 months of age. 

14 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION AND REGULATIONS.—The 

15 Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

16 the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Home17 land Security, shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) promulgate such regulations as the Secre19 taries determine to be necessary to implement and 

20 enforce this section; 

21 ‘‘(2)(A) facilitate electronic submission of all re22 quired documentation; and 

23 ‘‘(B) make the information in the documenta24 tion submitted under subparagraph (A) available to 

25 the Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human 


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1 Services, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Sec2 retary of Homeland Security prior to arrival, as ap3 plicable, for verification that all applicable importa4 tion requirements are met; and 

5 ‘‘(3) determine and establish such fees for the 

6 issuance of permits with respect to dog importation 

7 as are necessary to fund the implementation and en8 forcement of this section. 

9 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub10 section (c)(3) limits the availability of funding made avail11 able under section 10417 to carry out this section. 

12 ‘‘(e) ENFORCEMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall have 

14 the authority granted under section 10414 to en15 force this section. 

16 ‘‘(2) PENALTIES.—An importer that fails to 

17 comply with this section shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) be subject to penalties under section 

19 10414; and 

20 ‘‘(B) if the importer is a dealer, provide, as 

21 the Secretary may determine, at the expense of 

22 the importer, for— 

23 ‘‘(i) the care (including appropriate 

24 veterinary care), forfeiture, quarantine, 


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1 and removal from the United States of 

2 each applicable dog; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the return of each applicable dog 

4 to its place of export, with due care for the 

5 welfare of each applicable dog.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 18 of the 

7 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2148) is repealed. 

8 SEC. 3. TRANSPORTATION. 

9 (a) DEFINITION OF TRANSPORTER.—Section 2 of the 

10 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (c)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘para13 graph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; 

14 and 

15 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

16 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 

17 and indenting appropriately; 

18 (2) in each of subsections (a) through (o), by 

19 inserting a subsection heading, the text of which is 

20 comprised of the term defined in the subsection; 

21 (3) by redesignating subsections (a) through (o) 

22 as paragraphs (12), (15), (3), (17), (14), (6), (1), 

23 (7), (11), (2), (8), (9), (13), (4), (10), respectively, 

24 and indenting appropriately; 


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1 (4) by inserting after paragraph (4) (as so des2 ignated) the following: 

3 ‘‘(5) COMPENSATION.—The term ‘compensa4 tion’ means any act, consideration, or thing of value 

5 received by a person directly, including cash or 

6 noncash benefits, cost-avoidance, obtaining positive 

7 or avoiding negative publicity, an exchange of serv8 ices, or maintaining a license issued under any local, 

9 State, or Federal government authority.’’; 

10 (5) by inserting after paragraph (15) (as so 

11 designated) the following: 

12 ‘‘(16) SELL; RESELL.—The term ‘sell’ or ‘re13 sell’ means to transfer ownership or control of an 

14 animal, including by sale, adoption, exchange, or do15 nation.’’; and 

16 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(18) TRANSPORTER.—The term ‘transporter’ 

18 means any person, department, agency, or instru19 mentality of the United States or of any State or 

20 local government, other than a carrier or inter21 mediate handler, who— 

22 ‘‘(A) receives an animal from any im23 porter, dealer, research facility, exhibitor, oper24 ator of an auction sale, or department, agency, 


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1 or instrumentality of the United States or of 

2 any State or local government; and 

3 ‘‘(B) receives compensation for moving 

4 that animal in commerce.’’. 

5 (b) HUMANE STANDARDS.—Section 13 of the Animal 

6 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(4)— 

8 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘air 

9 carriers,’’ and inserting ‘‘transporters, air car10 riers,’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘The Secretary shall provide, by regulation, 

13 that each transporter, intermediate handler, or 

14 carrier receiving a certificate of veterinary in15 spection required under this section shall sub16 mit a copy of the certificate to the Secretary, 

17 who shall record the information in a central18 ized, publicly available database and share the 

19 information with the appropriate State veteri20 narians.’’; 

21 (2) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 

22 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; 

23 (3) in the second subsection (f) (relating to cer24 tificates of inspection required for delivery of an aniVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1184.IH H1184

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1 mal), by striking ‘‘(f) No dogs or cats’’ and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(g) No dogs or cats—’’; and 

4 (4) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated)— 

5 (A) in the first sentence— 

6 (i) by inserting ‘‘importer,’’ before 

7 ‘‘dealer,’’; and 

8 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, transporter,’’ after 

9 ‘‘intermediate handler’’; and 

10 (B) in the second sentence— 

11 (i) by inserting ‘‘, the transporters,’’ 

12 after ‘‘the intermediate handlers’’; and 

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 10 of this 

14 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(4)’’. 

15 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri18 culture shall promulgate final regulations to implement 

19 the amendments made by this Act, including with respect 

20 to— 

21 (1) the verification on arrival in the United 

22 States of each dog being imported for transfer into 

23 the United States from a foreign country that the 

24 dog meets all applicable importation requirements; 

25 and 


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1 (2) the denial of entry into the United States 

2 of any dog that fails to meet those requirements. 

3 (b) TRANSITION PERIOD.—Until the date on which 

4 final regulations are issued under subsection (a), the im5 portation of live dogs shall be regulated in accordance with 

6 the regulations promulgated under section 18 of the Ani7 mal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2148) (as in effect on the day 

8 before the date of enactment of this Act), but only to the 

9 extent that those regulations are not in conflict with sec10 tion 10404A of the Animal Health Protection Act. 

Æ 


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