II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1557

To end the use of steel jaw leghold traps on animals in the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 13, 1997

Mr. TORRICELLI (for himself, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. KERRY, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN)

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the

Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To end the use of steel jaw leghold traps on animals in

the United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

4 It is the policy of the United States to end the need5 less maiming and suffering inflicted upon animals through

6 the use of steel jaw leghold traps by prohibiting the import

7 or export of, and the shipment in interstate commerce of,

8 such traps and of articles of fur from animals that were

9 trapped in such traps.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 As used in this Act:

3 (1) ARTICLE OF FUR.—The term ‘‘article of

4 fur’’ means—

5 (A) any furskin, whether raw or tanned or

6 dressed; or

7 (B) any article, however produced, that

8 consists in whole or part of any furskin.

9 For purposes of subparagraph (A), the terms

10 ‘‘furskin’’, ‘‘raw’’, and ‘‘tanned or dressed’’ have the

11 same respective meanings as those terms have under

12 headnote 1 of chapter 43 of the Harmonized Tariff

13 Schedule of the United States.

14 (2) CUSTOMS LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES.—

15 The term ‘‘customs laws of the United States’’

16 means any law enforced or administered by the Cus17 toms Service.

18 (3) INTERSTATE COMMERCE.—The term ‘‘inter19 state commerce’’ has the same meaning as given

20 such term in section 10 of title 18, United States

21 Code.

22 (4) IMPORT.—The term ‘‘import’’ means to

23 land on, bring into, or introduce into, any place sub24 ject to the jurisdiction of the United States, whether

25 or not such landing, bringing, or introduction con-
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1 stitutes an entry into the customs territory of the

2 United States.

3 (5) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes any

4 individual, partnership, association, corporation,

5 trust, or any officer, employee, agent, department,

6 or instrumentality of the Federal Government or of

7 any State or political subdivision thereof, or any

8 other entity subject to the jurisdiction of the United

9 States.

10 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

11 the Secretary of the Interior.

12 (7) STEEL JAW LEGHOLD TRAP.—The term

13 ‘‘steel jaw leghold trap’’ means any spring-powered

14 pan- or sear-activated device with two opposing steel

15 jaws which is designed to capture an animal by

16 snapping closed upon the animal’s limb or part

17 thereof.

18 SEC. 3. PROHIBITED ACTS AND PENALTIES.

19 (a) OFFENSES.—It is unlawful for any person know20 ingly—

21 (1) to import, export, ship, or receive in inter22 state commerce an article of fur if any part of the

23 article of fur is derived from an animal that was

24 trapped in a steel jaw leghold trap;
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1 (2) to import, export, deliver, carry, transport,

2 or ship by any means whatever, in interstate com3 merce, any steel jaw leghold trap; or

4 (3) to sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any

5 steel jaw leghold trap that was delivered, carried,

6 transported, or shipped in contravention of para7 graph (2).

8 (b) PENALTIES.—A person who violates subsection

9 (a), in addition to any other penalty that may be im10 posed—

11 (1) for the first such violation, shall be guilty

12 of an infraction punishable under title 18, United

13 States Code; and

14 (2) for each subsequent violation, shall be im15 prisoned not more than 2 years, fined under title 18,

16 United States Code, or both.

17 SEC. 4. REWARDS.

18 The Secretary shall pay, to any person who furnishes

19 information which leads to a conviction of a violation of

20 any provision of this Act or any regulation issued there21 under, an amount equal to one half of the fine paid pursu22 ant to the conviction. Any officer or employee of the Unit23 ed States or of any State or local government who fur24 nishes information or renders service in the performance
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1 of his or her official duties is not eligible for payment

2 under this section.

3 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except with respect to violations

5 of this Act to which subsection (b) applies, the provisions

6 of this Act and any regulations issued pursuant thereto

7 shall be enforced by the Secretary, who may use by agree8 ment, with or without reimbursement, the personnel, serv9 ices, and facilities of any other Federal agency or of any

10 State agency for purposes of enforcing this Act.

11 (b) EXPORT AND IMPORT VIOLATIONS.—

12 (1) IMPORT VIOLATIONS.—The importation of

13 articles in contravention of section 3 shall be treated

14 as a violation of the customs laws of the United

15 States, and the provisions of law relating to viola16 tions of the customs laws shall apply thereto.

17 (2) EXPORT VIOLATIONS.—The provisions of

18 the Export Administration Act of 1979 (including

19 the penalty provisions) (50 U.S.C. App. 2401 et

20 seq.) shall apply for purposes of enforcing the prohi21 bition relating to the export of articles described in

22 section 3.

23 (c) JUDICIAL PROCESS.—The district courts of the

24 United States may, within their respective jurisdictions,

25 upon proper oath or affirmation showing probable cause,
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1 issue such warrants or other process as may be required

2 for enforcement of this Act and any regulation issued

3 thereunder.

4 (d) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.—Any individual

5 having authority to enforce this Act (except with respect

6 to violations to which subsection (b) applies), may, in exer7 cising such authority—

8 (1) detain for inspection, search, and seize any

9 package, crate, or other container, including its con10 tents, and all accompanying documents, if such indi11 vidual has reasonable cause to suspect that in such

12 package, crate, or other container are articles with

13 respect to which a violation of this Act (except with

14 respect to violations to which subsection (b) applies)

15 has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur;

16 (2) make arrests without a warrant for any vio17 lation of this Act (except with respect to violations

18 to which subsection (b) applies) committed in his or

19 her presence or view or if the individual has probable

20 cause to believe that the person to be arrested has

21 committed or is committing such a violation; and

22 (3) execute and serve any arrest warrant,

23 search warrant, or other warrant or criminal process

24 issued by any judge or magistrate of any court of

25 competent jurisdiction for enforcement of this Act
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1 (except with respect to violations to which subsection

2 (b) applies).

3 (e) FORFEITURE.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para5 graph (3), any article of fur or steel jaw leghold trap

6 taken, possessed, sold, purchased, offered for sale or

7 purchase, transported, delivered, received, carried, or

8 shipped in violation of this Act shall be subject to

9 forfeiture to the United States.

10 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—The provisions of law

11 relating to—

12 (A) the seizure, summary and judicial for13 feiture, and condemnation of property for viola14 tions of the customs laws,

15 (B) the disposition of such property or the

16 proceeds from the sale thereof,

17 (C) the remission or mitigation of such for18 feitures, and

19 (D) the compromise of claims,

20 shall apply to seizures and forfeitures under this

21 subsection, except that the duties performed by a

22 customs officer or any other person with respect to

23 the seizure and forfeiture of property under the cus24 toms laws of the United States may be performed

25 with respect to seizures and forfeitures of property
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1 under this subsection by the Secretary or such offi2 cers and employees as the Secretary may designate.

3 (3) EXCEPTION.—The provisions of the Export

4 Administration Act of 1979 shall apply with respect

5 to the seizure and forfeiture of any article of fur or

6 steel jaw leghold trap exported in violation of this

7 Act and the customs laws of the United States shall

8 apply with respect to the seizure and forfeiture of

9 any such article or trap imported in violation of this

10 Act.

11 (f) INJUNCTIONS.—The Attorney General of the

12 United States may seek to enjoin any person who is al13 leged to be in violation of any provision of this Act.

14 (g) COOPERATION.—The Secretary of Commerce, the

15 Secretary of the Treasury, and the head of any other de16 partment or agency with enforcement responsibilities

17 under this Act shall cooperate with the Secretary in ensur18 ing that this Act is enforced in the most effective and effi19 cient manner.

20 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.

21 The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as are

22 necessary to carry out this Act.
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1 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year

3 after the date of enactment.

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