IC 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3331 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2012 

Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

AN ACT 

To provide for universal intercountry adoption accreditation 

standards, 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, 


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S 3331 RFH 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Intercountry Adoption 

3 Universal Accreditation Act of 2012’’. 

4 SEC. 2. UNIVERSAL ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of title II and sec6 tion 404 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 

7 U.S.C. 14901 et seq.), and related implementing regula8 tions, shall apply to any person offering or providing adop9 tion services in connection with a child described in section 

10 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

11 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)(F)), to the same extent as they apply 

12 to the offering or provision of adoption services in connec13 tion with a Convention adoption. The Secretary of State, 

14 the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General 

15 (with respect to section 404(b) of the Intercountry Adop16 tion Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14944)), and the accrediting 

17 entities shall have the duties, responsibilities, and authori18 ties under title II and title IV of the Intercountry Adop19 tion Act of 2000 and related implementing regulations 

20 with respect to a person offering or providing such adop21 tion services, irrespective of whether such services are of22 fered or provided in connection with a Convention adop23 tion. 

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of this sec25 tion shall take effect 18 months after the date of the en26 actment of this Act. 


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1 (c) TRANSITION RULE.—This Act shall not apply to 

2 a person offering or providing adoption services as de3 scribed in subsection (a) in the case of a prospective adop4 tion in which— 

5 (1) an application for advance processing of an 

6 orphan petition or petition to classify an orphan as 

7 an immediate relative for a child is filed before the 

8 date that is 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act; or 

10 (2) the prospective adoptive parents of a child 

11 have initiated the adoption process with the filing of 

12 an appropriate application in a foreign country suffi13 cient such that the Secretary of State is satisfied be14 fore the date that is 180 days after the date of the 

15 enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF COLLECTED FEES FOR ACCRED17 ITING ENTITIES. 

18 (a) Section 403 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 

19 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14943) is amended by striking subsection 

20 (c). 

21 (b) REPORT REQUIREMENT.—Section 202(b) of the 

22 Intercountry Adoption act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14922(b)) 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(5) REPORT ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDING.— 

25 Not later than 90 days after an accrediting entity 


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S 3331 RFH 

1 receives Federal funding authorized by section 403, 

2 the entity shall submit a report to the Committee on 

3 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee 

4 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

5 that describes— 

6 ‘‘(A) the amount of such funding the enti7 ty received; and 

8 ‘‘(B) how such funding was, or will be, 

9 used by the entity.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act, the terms ‘‘accrediting entity’’, ‘‘adoption 

12 service’’, ‘‘Convention adoption’’, and ‘‘person’’ have the 

13 meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Inter14 country Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14902). 

Passed the Senate December 5, 2012. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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