I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7157 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to ensure fair enforcement 

of such Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2024 

Mr. DUARTE (for himself and Mr. COSTA) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to ensure 

fair enforcement of such Act. 

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 ‘‘Strengthen Wood 

5 Product Supply Chains Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FAIR ENFORCEMENT OF LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS 

7 OF 1981. 

8 Section 6 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 

9 U.S.C. 3375) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

2 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(c) MERCHANDISE DETAINED FOR INSPECTION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a person authorized 

7 under subsection (a) to enforce this Act detains mer8 chandise under this section, the Secretary shall, not 

9 later than 5 days after the date on which such de10 tention is initiated— 

11 ‘‘(A) issue to the importer of such detained 

12 merchandise a notice of detention; or 

13 ‘‘(B) release to such importer the detained 

14 merchandise. 

15 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF DETENTION.—A notice of de16 tention described in paragraph (1)(A) shall include 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) A statement of the initiation of the 

19 detention, including the date on which the de20 tained merchandise was detained for inspection. 

21 ‘‘(B) A specific reason for the detention. 

22 ‘‘(C) The anticipated length of the deten23 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(D) A description of the tests or inquiries 

2 the Secretary will conduct with regard to the 

3 detained merchandise. 

4 ‘‘(E) A description of information, if any, 

5 that, if supplied to the Secretary, may accel6 erate the disposition of the detention. 

7 ‘‘(3) TRANSPORTATION OF DETAINED MER8 CHANDISE TO OTHER LOCATION.—Not later than 10 

9 days after the date on which the Secretary issues a 

10 notice of detention under paragraph (1) for detained 

11 merchandise, the Secretary shall allow the importer 

12 of such detained merchandise to transport such de13 tained merchandise to a location that is not under 

14 the control of the United States if— 

15 ‘‘(A) the importer— 

16 ‘‘(i) requests the transfer; 

17 ‘‘(ii) pays all demurrage and storage 

18 fees associated with the detained merchan19 dise; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) provides a bond for removal 

21 from the custody of the United States; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the Secretary determines that such 

23 transportation will not frustrate the intent of 

24 this Act. 


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1 ‘‘(4) REPLICATION OF TESTS.—If the Secretary 

2 conducts tests on detained merchandise, the Sec3 retary shall provide the importer of such detained 

4 merchandise with— 

5 ‘‘(A) the results of such tests; and 

6 ‘‘(B) information sufficient for the im7 porter to replicate such tests. 

8 ‘‘(5) RELEASE OR SEIZURE.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

10 days after the date on which merchandise is de11 tained for inspection under this section, the 

12 Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) release such detained merchan14 dise to the importer of such detained mer15 chandise; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) seize such detained merchandise 

17 and issue a notification to the importer of 

18 such detained merchandise that such de19 tained merchandise has been seized. 

20 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO RELEASE OR SEIZE.—If 

21 the Secretary fails to release or seize detained 

22 merchandise under subparagraph (A) within the 

23 time period described in that subparagraph, 

24 such failure shall be deemed a seizure under 

25 subparagraph (A)(ii). 


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1 ‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An importer of de3 tained merchandise may submit to the Sec4 retary a request for administrative review of a 

5 seizure or deemed seizure of such detained mer6 chandise under subparagraph (A)(ii) or (B) of 

7 paragraph (5), respectively. 

8 ‘‘(B) DISPOSITION OF REQUEST.—Not 

9 later than 30 days after the date on which a re10 quest for administrative review is submitted by 

11 an importer under subparagraph (A), the Sec12 retary shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) release to such importer the de14 tained merchandise that is the subject of 

15 such request; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) affirm the seizure or deemed sei17 zure under subparagraph (A)(ii) or (B) of 

18 paragraph (5), respectively, that is the 

19 subject of such request. 

20 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBILITY TO FILE CLAIM.—If the 

21 Secretary, pursuant to a request for administra22 tive review submitted by an importer of de23 tained merchandise under subparagraph (A)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) affirms the seizure or deemed sei2 zure of such detained merchandise under 

3 subparagraph (B)(ii); or 

4 ‘‘(ii) fails to release or affirm the sei5 zure or deemed seizure of such detained 

6 merchandise under clause (i) or (ii) of sub7 paragraph (B), respectively, within the 

8 time period described in subparagraph (B); 

9 the importer that submitted such request may 

10 file a claim for relief in the appropriate district 

11 court of the United States. 

12 ‘‘(7) COURT PROCEEDINGS.—In a claim filed 

13 under paragraph (6)(C)(ii), the court shall grant ap14 propriate relief to the importer of detained merchan15 dise that filed such claim, which may include an 

16 order to release such detained merchandise to such 

17 importer, unless the Secretary establishes by a pre18 ponderance of the evidence that an admissibility de19 cision with respect to such detained merchandise has 

20 not been reached for good cause. 

21 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

22 ‘‘(A) DETAINED MERCHANDISE.—The 

23 term ‘detained merchandise’ means merchan24 dise that is detained for inspection under this 

25 section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) MERCHANDISE.—The term ‘merchan2 dise’ means any fish or wildlife or plant im3 ported for sale.’’. 

Æ 


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