II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3759 

To close high risk wildlife markets and prevent wildlife disease transmission 

globally, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2020 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To close high risk wildlife markets and prevent wildlife 

disease transmission globally, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Global Wildlife Health and Pandemic Prevention Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 5. Closing high risk wildlife markets. 

Sec. 6. Preventing outbreaks of diseases of wildlife origin. 

Sec. 7. Authorization of appropriations. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASE.—The 

4 term ‘‘emerging infectious disease’’ means an infec5 tious disease whose incidence in humans has in6 creased in the past two decades or threatens to in7 crease in the near future. 

8 (2) HIGH RISK WILDLIFE MARKETS.—The term 

9 ‘‘high risk wildlife markets’’ means any commercial 

10 market that sells or processes wildlife for human 

11 consumption, whether the animals originated in the 

12 wild or in a captive situation, and where— 

13 (A) the species of wildlife or regulation of 

14 the market is determined under section 6(a)(1) 

15 to be a risk factor for zoonotic disease spread 

16 to humans or is linked with the global illegal 

17 trade in wildlife; or 

18 (B) the manner of processing the wildlife 

19 is determined under section 6(a)(1) to be a risk 

20 factor for zoonotic disease spread to humans. 

21 (3) ONE HEALTH.—The term ‘‘One Health’’ 

22 means a collaborative and transdisciplinary approach 

23 to achieving optimal health outcomes that recognizes 

24 the interconnection between people, animals, plants, 

25 and their shared environment. 


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1 (4) SPILLOVER EVENT.—The term ‘‘spillover 

2 event’’ means the transmission of a pathogen from 

3 one species to another that was not previously a host 

4 for that pathogen. 

5 (5) ZOONOTIC DISEASE.—The term ‘‘zoonotic 

6 disease’’ means any disease that is naturally trans7 missible from vertebrate animals to humans. 

8 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

9 Congress makes the following findings: 

10 (1) According to the Centers for Disease Con11 trol and Prevention, the majority of emerging infec12 tious diseases in recent years have originated in 

13 wildlife, and the rate of outbreaks of these diseases 

14 is increasing. 

15 (2) Zoonotic disease spillover events can occur 

16 from unnatural interaction between human and wild17 life populations or between wildlife populations with18 out human presence. 

19 (3) The collection, production, trade, and sale 

20 of wildlife for human consumption can be a serious 

21 risk factor for spillover events, particularly if it in22 volves animal species not typically in close proximity 

23 to humans or to each other, living under poorly reg24 ulated and stressful conditions that exacerbate the 

25 shedding of zoonotic pathogens. 


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1 (4) Changing land use practices and human ex2 pansion into wildlife habitat also increase opportuni3 ties for contact between wildlife and humans that 

4 can lead to disease transmission. 

5 (5) Markets where wildlife is sold for human 

6 consumption are found in many countries through7 out the world, and in some cases these products rep8 resent the only accessible source of protein for com9 munities; therefore, sustainable production of alter10 native protein should be supported in such commu11 nities in order to reduce need or demand for wildlife 

12 as a food source. 

13 (6) The human, economic, and security costs of 

14 global pandemics and regional epidemics of zoonotic 

15 diseases and emerging infectious diseases is over16 whelming. It is believed that the COVID–19 pan17 demic will result in tens of thousands of deaths and 

18 trillions of dollars in economic damage to the United 

19 States alone. 

20 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that— 

22 (1) the United States Government should 

23 prioritize actions that lead to the immediate and 

24 permanent closure of high risk wildlife markets 

25 around the world; and 


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1 (2) the United States Government should utilize 

2 a One Health approach to emerging zoonotic and in3 fectious disease prevention, detection, reporting, and 

4 response that leverages expertise across public 

5 health, epidemiology, wildlife and biodiversity con6 servation, food security, and veterinary medicine de7 signed to eliminate the risk of future such zoonotic 

8 and emerging infectious disease epidemics and 

9 pandemics. 

10 SEC. 5. CLOSING HIGH RISK WILDLIFE MARKETS. 

11 (a) CLOSURE OF MARKETS.—The Department of 

12 State, the United States Agency for International Devel13 opment, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and 

14 the Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with other 

15 relevant United States agencies, shall— 

16 (1) prioritize the closure of high risk wildlife 

17 markets around the world and associated activities 

18 as part of United States diplomatic efforts; 

19 (2) provide support for other governments 

20 around the world in their efforts to close high risk 

21 wildlife markets; 

22 (3) work with other governments and multilat23 eral organizations, through appropriate existing 

24 treaties and conventions, to develop agreements or 


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1 protocols around closing high risk wildlife markets; 

2 and 

3 (4) coordinate these activities with existing 

4 United States Government efforts to combat wildlife 

5 trafficking, including— 

6 (A) providing assistance to combat corrup7 tion, strengthen governance, and build law en8 forcement capacity abroad; 

9 (B) aiding countries in detecting and de10 terring illegal import, transit, and export of 

11 wildlife; 

12 (C) improving information sharing in order 

13 to halt wildlife trade that may spread zoonotic 

14 disease and emerging infectious disease; and 

15 (D) reducing demand for wildlife and wild16 life products, including by increasing access to 

17 alternative protein sources for food insecure 

18 communities. 

19 (b) NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MEASURES.—The 

20 National Security Council, in consultation with the United 

21 States Agency for International Development, the Centers 

22 for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States 

23 Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department of Agri24 culture, shall develop policies and mechanisms to support 


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1 the closure of high risk wildlife markets and associated 

2 activities globally. 

3 (c) SANCTIONS.— 

4 (1) FINDINGS WARRANTING SANCTIONS.—If the 

5 Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Interior, or 

6 the Secretary of Agriculture finds that a country is 

7 continuing to willfully harbor high risk wildlife mar8 kets, including a failure to enforce relevant laws and 

9 regulations, the Secretary making such finding shall 

10 certify such finding to the President and shall report 

11 this certification within 15 days to Congress. 

12 (2) ACTIONS.—Upon the receipt of any certifi13 cation made under subsection (c), the President 

14 may— 

15 (A) prohibit the import of any products 

16 from the offending country, to the extent that 

17 such prohibition is permitted under current 

18 trade agreements; 

19 (B) freeze assets of any government offi20 cials from the offending country; or 

21 (C) impose travel bans and visa restric22 tions on any government officials from the of23 fending country. 

24 (d) EXCEPTIONS.—In carrying out this section, lim25 ited exceptions shall be considered if necessary to meet 


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1 the nutritional, subsistence, or cultural needs and rights 

2 of indigenous peoples or communities dependent on wild3 life for food security. 

4 SEC. 6. PREVENTING OUTBREAKS OF DISEASES OF WILD5 LIFE ORIGIN. 

6 (a) INTEGRATING HUMAN, ANIMAL, AND ENVIRON7 MENTAL HEALTH.—The Department of State, the United 

8 States Agency for International Development, the Centers 

9 for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States 

10 Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Geological 

11 Survey, and the Department of Agriculture, in collabora12 tion with other relevant United States agencies as appro13 priate, shall leverage public health, animal health, and en14 vironmental health expertise to— 

15 (1) identify high risk wildlife markets for the 

16 purposes of carrying out section 5; 

17 (2) coordinate an integrated, Federal govern18 ment-wide approach to global zoonotic disease pre19 paredness, surveillance, and response; 

20 (3) support efforts to better understand the 

21 connection between human and wildlife health; 

22 (4) promote a multi-sectoral approach that co23 ordinates global health, food security, and biodiver24 sity activities; 


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1 (5) strengthen global capacity for detection of 

2 zoonotic diseases with pandemic potential by— 

3 (A) supporting institutions that can pre4 vent and provide early detection of zoonotic out5 breaks; 

6 (B) investing in laboratory diagnostic ca7 pability and workforce training; 

8 (C) supporting surveillance at locations at 

9 high risk of spillover events; and 

10 (D) preventing biodiversity loss and eco11 system degradation that can lead to zoonotic 

12 disease transmission; 

13 (6) invest in food security efforts that aim to— 

14 (A) eliminate public health threats from 

15 zoonotic disease spillover events; 

16 (B) prevent biodiversity loss and species 

17 extinction; and 

18 (C) protect food insecure communities 

19 from loss of access to protein that may result 

20 from closure of high risk wildlife markets and 

21 efforts to reduce demand for wildlife as a food 

22 source; and 

23 (7) take action to minimize the human-wildlife 

24 interface in the wild, including by— 


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1 (A) preventing the degradation and frag2 mentation of intact ecosystems; 

3 (B) restoring the integrity of degraded and 

4 fragmented ecosystems; 

5 (C) supporting effective indigenous and 

6 local stewardship of traditional territories; 

7 (D) supporting national and subnational 

8 governments in effectively managing their pro9 tected areas; 

10 (E) helping enforce current laws that pro11 tect wildlife; and 

12 (F) investing in risk reduction and commu13 nity education programs that reduce demand 

14 for wildlife as a food source and increase access 

15 to alternative protein sources. 

16 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF HIGH RISK WILDLIFE MAR17 KETS.—In carrying out subsection (a)(1), the following 

18 factors shall be considered: 

19 (1) Wildlife markets that are regulated under 

20 national and international veterinary standards for 

21 slaughter shall not be considered high risk wildlife 

22 markets. 

23 (2) Mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians of 

24 wild origin, whether removed directly from the wild 

25 or bred in captivity, shall be considered wildlife for 


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1 the purposes of identifying high risk wildlife mar2 kets. 

3 (c) GLOBAL HEALTH FUNDING PLAN.—The Sec4 retary of State and the Administrator of the United States 

5 Agency for International Development shall include infor6 mation about zoonotic disease preparedness and surveil7 lance in the reports required under section 406(b) of the 

8 Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental 

9 Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–123). 

10 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 The following amounts are authorized to be appro12 priated for fiscal year 2021 to carry out the activities out13 lined in this Act: 

14 (1) $100,000,000 for State International Nar15 cotics Control and Law Enforcement. 

16 (2) $50,000,000 for the Fish and Wildlife Serv17 ice Office of Law Enforcement. 

18 (3) $20,000,000 for the Fish and Wildlife Serv19 ice Office of International Affairs. 

20 (4) $40,000,000 for the United States Geologi21 cal Survey National Wildlife Health Center. 

22 (5) $30,000,000 for the USDA National Ani23 mal Health Laboratory Network. 

24 (6) $200,000,000 for USAID Global Health Se25 curity Programs. 


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1 (7) $125,000,000 for USAID Food Security 

2 Programs. 

3 (8) $500,000,000 for USAID Biodiversity Pro4 grams. 

Æ 


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