II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1125

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

JUNE 28, 2001

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. BAYH, Mr.

BINGAMAN, Mr. CLELAND, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. FITZGERALD, Mr. FRIST, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. HELMS, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KERRY, Mr. KOHL, Mr. KYL, Mr. LEAHY,

Mr. LEVIN, Mr. REED, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. TORRICELLI, and Mr. WYDEN) 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,
2

•S 1125 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

3 of 2001’’.

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);

13 (2)(A) Article XIV of CITES provides that

14 Parties to CITES may adopt stricter domestic meas15 ures regarding the conditions for trade, taking, pos16 session, or transport of species listed on Appendix I

17 or II; and

18 (B) the Parties to CITES adopted a resolution

19 in 1997 (Conf. 10.8) urging the Parties to take im20 mediate action to demonstrably reduce the illegal

21 trade in bear parts;

22 (3)(A) thousands of bears in Asia are cruelly

23 confined in small cages to be milked for their bile;

24 and

25 (B) the wild Asian bear population has declined

26 significantly in recent years as a result of habitat
3

•S 1125 IS

1 loss and poaching due to a strong demand for bear

2 viscera used in traditional medicines and cosmetics;

3 (4) Federal and State undercover operations

4 have revealed that American bears have been

5 poached for their viscera;

6 (5) while most American black bear populations

7 are generally stable or increasing, commercial trade

8 could stimulate poaching and threaten certain popu9 lations if the demand for bear viscera increases; and

10 (6) prohibitions against the importation into

11 the United States and exportation from the United

12 States, as well as prohibitions against the interstate

13 trade, of bear viscera and products containing, or la14 beled or advertised as containing, bear viscera will

15 assist in ensuring that the United States does not

16 contribute to the decline of any bear population as

17 a result of the commercial trade in bear viscera.

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

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

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

21 (1) prohibiting interstate and international

22 trade in bear viscera and products containing, or la23 beled or advertised as containing, bear viscera;

24 (2) encouraging bilateral and multilateral ef25 forts to eliminate such trade; and
4

•S 1125 IS

1 (3) ensuring that adequate Federal legislation

2 exists with respect to domestic trade in bear viscera

3 and products containing, or labeled or advertised as

4 containing, bear viscera.

5 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

6 In this Act:

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

8 means the body fluids or internal organs, including

9 the gallbladder and its contents but not including

10 the blood or brains, of a species of bear.

11 (2) CITES.—The term ‘‘CITES’’ means the

12 Convention on International Trade in Endangered

13 Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (27 UST 1087;

14 TIAS 8249).

15 (3) IMPORT.—The term ‘‘import’’ means to

16 land on, bring into, or introduce into any place sub17 ject to the jurisdiction of the United States, regard18 less of whether the landing, bringing, or introduction

19 constitutes an importation within the meaning of the

20 customs laws of the United States.

21 (4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means—

22 (A) an individual, corporation, partnership,

23 trust, association, or other private entity;

24 (B) an officer, employee, agent, depart25 ment, or instrumentality of—
5

•S 1125 IS

1 (i) the Federal Government;

2 (ii) any State or political subdivision

3 of a State; or

4 (iii) any foreign government; and

5 (C) any other entity subject to the jurisdic6 tion of the United States.

7 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

8 the Secretary of the Interior.

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

10 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

11 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Com12 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Amer13 ican Samoa, and any other territory, commonwealth,

14 or possession of the United States.

15 (7) TRANSPORT.—The term ‘‘transport’’ means

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

17 deliver or receive for the purpose of movement, con18 veyance, carriage, or shipment.

19 SEC. 5. PROHIBITED ACTS.

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

21 (b), a person shall not—

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

23 States bear viscera or any product, item, or sub24 stance containing, or labeled or advertised as con25 taining, bear viscera; or
6

•S 1125 IS

1 (2) sell or barter, offer to sell or barter, pur2 chase, possess, transport, deliver, or receive, in inter3 state or foreign commerce, bear viscera or any prod4 uct, item, or substance containing, or labeled or ad5 vertised as containing, bear viscera.

6 (b) EXCEPTION FOR WILDLIFE LAW ENFORCEMENT

7 PURPOSES.—A person described in section 4(4)(B) may

8 import into, or export from, the United States, or trans9 port between States, bear viscera or any product, item,

10 or substance containing, or labeled or advertised as con11 taining, bear viscera if the importation, exportation, or

12 transportation—

13 (1) is solely for the purpose of enforcing laws

14 relating to the protection of wildlife; and

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

16 Appendix I or II of CITES, in any case in which

17 such a permit is required under CITES.

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.
7

•S 1125 IS

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) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE.—Any bear viscera or

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

9 bartered, attempted to be imported, exported, sold, or

10 bartered, offered for sale or barter, purchased, possessed,

11 transported, delivered, or received in violation of this sec12 tion (including any regulation issued under this section)

13 shall be seized and forfeited to the United States.

14 (d) REGULATIONS.—After consultation with the Sec15 retary of the Treasury and the United States Trade Rep16 resentative, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as

17 are necessary 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-
8

•S 1125 IS

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 BEAR CONSERVATION

4 AND THE BEAR PARTS TRADE.

5 In order to seek to establish coordinated efforts with

6 other countries to protect bears, the Secretary shall con7 tinue discussions concerning trade in bear viscera with—

8 (1) the appropriate representatives of Parties to

9 CITES; and

10 (2) the appropriate representatives of countries

11 that are not parties to CITES and that are deter12 mined by the Secretary and the United States Trade

13 Representative to be the leading importers, export14 ers, or consumers of bear viscera.

15 SEC. 8. CERTAIN RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED.

16 Except as provided in section 5, nothing in this Act

17 affects—

18 (1) the regulation by any State of the bear pop19 ulation of the State; or

20 (2) any hunting of bears that is lawful under

21 applicable State law (including regulations).

Æ