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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3987

To provide for conservation of rhinoceros and tigers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 9, 1994

Mr. FIELDS of Texas (for himself, Mr. STUDDS, and Mr. BEILENSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on

Merchant Marine and Fisheries and Ways and Means

A BILL

To provide for conservation of rhinoceros and tigers.

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 ‘‘Rhinoceros and Tiger

5 Conservation Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The world’s rhinoceros population is declin9 ing at an alarming rate, a 90 percent decline since

10 1970.
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1 (2) All rhinoceros species have been listed on

2 Appendix I of CITES since 1977.

3 (3) All rhinoceros species, except the southern

4 subspecies of white rhinoceros, are listed as endan5 gered species under the Endangered Species Act of

6 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

7 (4) In 1987, the parties to CITES adopted a

8 resolution that urged all parties to establish a mora9 torium on the sale and trade in rhinoceros products

10 (other than legally taken trophies), to destroy gov11 ernment stockpiles of rhinoceros horn, and to exert

12 pressure on countries continuing to allow trade in

13 rhinoceros products.

14 (5) On September 7, 1993, under section 8 of

15 the Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967 (22 U.S.C.

16 1978) the Secretary certified that the People’s Re17 public of China and Taiwan were engaged in trade

18 of rhinoceros parts and tiger parts that diminished

19 the effectiveness of an international conservation

20 program for that endangered species.

21 (6) On September 9, 1993, the Standing Com22 mittee of CITES, in debating the continuing prob23 lem of trade in rhinoceros horn, adopted a resolution

24 urging parties to CITES to implement stricter do-
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1 mestic measures, up to and including an immediate

2 prohibition in trade in wildlife species.

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

4 The purposes of this Act are the following:

5 (1) To assist in the conservation of rhinoceros

6 and tigers by supporting the conservation programs

7 of nations whose activities affect rhinoceros and

8 tiger populations, and the CITES Secretariat.

9 (2) To provide financial resources for those

10 programs.

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

12 In this Act—

13 (1) ‘‘CITES’’ means the Convention on Inter14 national Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

15 Fauna and Flora, signed on March 3, 1973, and its

16 appendices;

17 (2) ‘‘conservation’’ means the use of all meth18 ods and procedures necessary to bring rhinoceros

19 and tigers to the point at which there are sufficient

20 populations to ensure that those species do not be21 come extinct, including all activities associated with

22 scientific resource management, such as research,

23 census, law enforcement, habitat acquisition and

24 maintenance, propagation, live trapping, and trans25 portation;
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1 (3) ‘‘fish products’’ means any aquatic species

2 (including marine mammals and plants) exported

3 from a country and all products and parts thereof,

4 whether taken by fishing vessels of that country, or

5 packed, processed, or otherwise prepared for export

6 in that country or within its jurisdiction;

7 (4) ‘‘Fund’’ means the Rhinoceros and Tiger

8 Conservation Fund established under section 6(a);

9 (5) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In10 terior; and

11 (6) ‘‘wildlife products’’ means any wild animal

12 (other than an aquatic species which is a fish prod13 uct) taken within a country and all products and

14 parts thereof (including eggs), whether packed, proc15 essed, or otherwise prepared for export in that coun16 try or within its jurisdiction. This term does not in17 clude any wild animal or fish if brought or imported

18 into the United States for scientific research or any

19 legally taken sport-hunted trophies.

20 SEC. 5. RHINOCEROS AND TIGER CONSERVATION ASSIST21 ANCE.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, subject to the

23 availability of appropriations, shall use amounts in the

24 Fund to provide financial assistance for projects for the

25 conservation of rhinoceros and tigers.
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1 (b) PROJECT PROPOSAL.—A country whose activities

2 affect rhinoceros or tiger populations, the CITES Sec3 retariat, or any other person may submit to the Secretary

4 a project proposal under this section. Each proposal

5 shall—

6 (1) name the individual responsible for conduct7 ing the project;

8 (2) state the purposes of the project succinctly;

9 (3) describe the qualifications of the individuals

10 who will conduct the project;

11 (4) estimate the funds and time required to

12 complete the project;

13 (5) provide evidence of support of the project by

14 appropriate governmental entities of countries in

15 which the project will be conducted, if the Secretary

16 determines that the support is required for the suc17 cess of the project; and

18 (6) provide any other information the Secretary

19 considers to be necessary for evaluating the eligi20 bility of the project for funding under this Act.

21 (c) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—The Sec22 retary shall review each project proposal to determine if

23 it meets the criterion set forth in subsection (d). Not later

24 than 6 months after receiving a project proposal, and sub25 ject to the availability of funds, the Secretary shall ap-
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1 prove or disapprove the proposal and provide written noti2 fication to the person who submitted the proposal and to

3 each country within which the project is to be conducted.

4 (d) CRITERION FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may

5 approve a project under this section if the project will en6 hance programs or activities for the conservation of rhi7 noceros or tigers.

8 (e) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each person that re9 ceives assistance under this section for a project shall pro10 vide periodic reports to the Secretary as the Secretary con11 siders necessary. Each report shall include all information

12 requested by the Secretary for evaluating the progress and

13 success of the project.

14 SEC. 6. RHINOCEROS AND TIGER CONSERVATION FUND.

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

16 general fund of the Treasury a separate account to be

17 known as the ‘‘Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund’’,

18 which shall consist of amounts deposited into the Fund

19 by the Secretary of the Treasury under subsection (b).

20 (b) DEPOSITS INTO THE FUND.—The Secretary of

21 the Treasury shall deposit into the Fund—

22 (1) all amounts received by the Secretary in the

23 form of donations under subsection (d); and

24 (2) other amounts appropriated to the Fund.

25 (c) USE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

2 the Secretary may use amounts in the Fund without

3 further appropriation to provide assistance under

4 section 5.

5 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Of amounts in the

6 Fund available for each fiscal year, the Secretary

7 may use not more than 6 percent to administer the

8 Fund.

9 (d) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The

10 Secretary may accept and use donations to provide assist11 ance under section 5. Amounts received by the Secretary

12 in the form of donations shall be transferred to the Sec13 retary of the Treasury for deposit into the Fund.

14 SEC. 7. SANCTIONS AGAINST FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

15 (a) INITIAL REVIEW AND CERTIFICATION.—Not later

16 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,

17 the Secretary shall—

18 (1) review all foreign countries whose activities

19 affect rhinoceros or tiger populations; and

20 (2) if the Secretary finds that any citizen of a

21 foreign country, directly or indirectly, is engaging in

22 trade in products made from rhinoceros or tigers, or

23 in another activity that adversely affects rhinoceros

24 or tiger conservation, certify that fact to the Presi25 dent.
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1 (b) CONSULTATION.—Not later than 30 days after

2 the date of a certification under subsection (a)(2) with re3 spect to a foreign country, the President shall enter into

4 consultations with the government of the country that the

5 certification has been made.

6 (c) MORATORIUM ON IMPORTATION.—

7 (1) DIRECTION TO ESTABLISH.—Not later than

8 60 days after the date of a certification under sub9 section (a)(2) with respect to a foreign country, if

10 consultations under subsection (b) are not satisfac11 torily concluded with the country the President shall

12 direct the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a

13 moratorium on the importation of all fish products

14 and wildlife products from the country.

15 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of the

16 Treasury shall establish and implement a morato17 rium pursuant to the direction of the President

18 under paragraph (1), by not later than 45 days after

19 the date the President directs the Secretary of the

20 Treasury to establish the moratorium.

21 (3) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary of the

22 Treasury shall provide public notice of a moratorium

23 under this subsection before implementing the mora24 torium.
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1 (4) SUBSEQUENT REVIEW.—The Secretary

2 shall periodically review the activities of citizens of

3 a foreign country with respect to which a certifi4 cation is made under subsection (a)(2) to determine

5 if the reasons for making the certification no longer

6 exist.

7 (5) TERMINATION OF MORATORIUM.—If, after

8 notice and public comment, the Secretary determines

9 that the reasons for making a certification under

10 subsection (a)(2) with respect to a foreign country

11 no longer exist the Secretary of the Treasury shall

12 terminate a moratorium established for the country

13 under this subsection.

14 (d) ADDITIONAL ECONOMIC SANCTIONS.—

15 (1) DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF

16 MORATORIUM.—Not later than 6 months after the

17 date of a certification under subsection (a)(2) with

18 respect to a foreign country, the Secretary shall de19 termine whether a moratorium under subsection (c)

20 is insufficient to cause the foreign country to im21 prove its efforts for the conservation of rhinoceros or

22 tigers, as appropriate.

23 (2) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall cer24 tify to the President each affirmative determination
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1 under paragraph (1) with respect to a foreign

2 country.

3 (3) EFFECT OF CERTIFICATION.—Certification

4 by the Secretary under paragraph (2) is deemed to

5 be a certification under section 8(a) of the Fisher6 men’s Protective Act of 1967 (22 U.S.C. 1978(a)).

7 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund

9 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997,

10 1998, and 1999 to carry out this Act, to remain available

11 until expended.

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