114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2494 

AN ACT 

To support global anti-poaching efforts, strengthen the capacity of partner countries to counter wildlife trafficking, 

designate major wildlife trafficking countries, 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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Anti-Poaching 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Poaching and the illicit trade in endangered 

7 and threatened wildlife are among the most lucrative 

8 criminal activities worldwide, worth an estimated $7 

9 to $10 billion annually. 

10 (2) Poaching and wildlife trafficking have esca11 lated in scale, sophistication and violence, risking the 

12 potential extinction of some of the world’s most 

13 iconic species. 

14 (3) Wildlife poaching and trafficking threaten 

15 elephants, rhinoceros, and tigers greatly, but also 

16 have devastating impact on a number of other spe17 cies, including sharks, great apes, and turtles. 

18 (4) The high demand for rare wildlife products 

19 has driven prices to historically high levels. 

20 (5) Much of the demand for wildlife products 

21 comes from Asia and is fueled by the perceived me22 dicinal value and social status associated with these 

23 products. 

24 (6) Reporting indicates that a number of rebel 

25 groups and terrorist organizations, including Su26 dan’s Janjaweed militia, the Lord’s Resistance 
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1 Army, the Seleka rebel movement in the Central Af2 rican Republic, and Somalia’s al-Shabaab, either 

3 participate in or draw funding from illicit wildlife 

4 trafficking networks. 

5 (7) Analyses suggest the high demand for ille6 gal wildlife products, combined with weak law en7 forcement and security measures and corruption and 

8 governance failures, has led to the increased involve9 ment of transnational organized crime in wildlife 

10 trafficking. 

11 (8) The United Nations Security Council has 

12 authorized multilateral sanctions against individuals 

13 and entities supporting armed groups through the il14 licit trade in wildlife, in addition to other natural re15 sources, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 

16 the Central African Republic. 

17 (9) A National Intelligence Council analysis of 

18 wildlife poaching threats found that certain African 

19 government officials facilitated the movement of 

20 wildlife products, and that these governments’ ability 

21 to reduce poaching and trafficking was hindered by 

22 corruption and weak rule of law. 

23 (10) On November 13, 2013, the Secretary of 

24 State announced the first reward under the 

25 Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program 
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1 for information leading to the dismantling of the 

2 Xaysavang Network, a large wildlife trafficking syn3 dicate that is based in Laos and spans Africa and 

4 Asia. 

5 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF WILDLIFE ENFORCEMENT NET6 WORKS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Wildlife enforcement networks are govern9 ment-led, regionally-focused mechanisms that in10 crease capacity and coordination efforts between law 

11 enforcement, environmental agencies, and other enti12 ties focused on countering wildlife trafficking of 

13 member countries. 

14 (2) Currently there are active wildlife enforce15 ment networks in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and 

16 Central America. The more mature wildlife enforce17 ment networks, such as the Southeast Asia wildlife 

18 enforcement network, have proven effective in dis19 mantling transnational wildlife trafficking networks 

20 and bringing to justice those individuals involved in 

21 the illegal trade of endangered and threatened spe22 cies. 

23 (3) Efforts are underway to establish additional 

24 wildlife enforcement networks in Central Africa, the 
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1 Horn of Africa, South America, and Central and 

2 West Asia, among other regions. 

3 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—The Secretary of 

4 State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

5 International Development, the Director of the United 

6 States Fish and Wildlife Service, and heads of other ap7 propriate agencies should, in an effort to address regional 

8 threats to biodiversity and conservation, support strength9 ening existing wildlife enforcement networks and the es10 tablishment of new networks in other appropriate regions. 

11 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that in the process of strengthening and expanding 

13 wildlife enforcement networks, the appropriate agencies 

14 should— 

15 (1) assess the existing capacity of wildlife en16 forcement network member countries to gather base17 line data that may be used for developing program 

18 activities for the wildlife enforcement network; 

19 (2) establish a central secretariat within each 

20 wildlife enforcement network that will coordinate the 

21 operational mechanisms of each such network; 

22 (3) establish a focal mechanism in each member 

23 country of a wildlife enforcement network, that in24 cludes representatives from environmental and wild25 life protection agencies, law enforcement agencies, fi-
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1 nancial intelligence units, customs and border pro2 tection agencies, and the judiciary system, that will 

3 serve as a conduit to the larger wildlife enforcement 

4 network and the central secretariat; 

5 (4) strengthen cooperation and the capacity of 

6 law enforcement agencies of the wildlife enforcement 

7 network; 

8 (5) facilitate the sharing of intelligence and rel9 evant case information within the agencies of a wild10 life enforcement network; 

11 (6) support the cooperation and coordination 

12 between different regional wildlife enforcement net13 works; 

14 (7) incorporate and utilize expertise from inter15 national bodies and civil society organizations that 

16 have appropriate subject matter expertise; 

17 (8) eventually create an institutionalized, sus18 tainable, and self-sufficient platform; and 

19 (9) recognize that lawful, well regulated hunting 

20 can contribute to sustainability and economic devel21 opment, and that enforcement policies should not 

22 discourage or impede this activity. 
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1 SEC. 4. SUPPORTING THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE 

2 WILDLIFE LAW ENFORCEMENT SECTOR. 

3 The Secretary of State, the Administrator of the 

4 United States Agency for International Development, the 

5 Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 

6 and heads of other appropriate agencies, including the Na7 tional Park Service and the United States Forest Service, 

8 should, in an effort to address local and regional threats 

9 to biodiversity and conservation and support the rule of 

10 law and good governance, promote the professionalization 

11 of the wildlife law enforcement sector and professional 

12 ranger training in partner countries through support and 

13 technical assistance for the following: 

14 (1) The creation and adoption of standards for 

15 professional ranger training and qualifications, in16 cluding in relevant international fora and multilat17 eral agreements. 

18 (2) Training and accreditation systems based 

19 on the standards described in paragraph (1) that 

20 produce professionally trained and qualified rangers 

21 and promote the overall professionalization of ranger 

22 forces, whether through existing United States insti23 tutions, such as International Law Enforcement 

24 Academies, or through partnerships with national or 

25 regional training institutions. 
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1 (3) Legal reforms, where necessary, to provide 

2 rangers with authority to detain and arrest suspects, 

3 process crime scenes, present evidence in court, and 

4 defend themselves in life threatening situations. 

5 (4) The development and institutionalization of 

6 reward and promotion systems for rangers based on 

7 performance and set competencies. 

8 (5) The development and institutionalization of 

9 national systems to provide insurance to rangers and 

10 their families and compensation for those rangers 

11 killed in the line of duty. 

12 (6) Cooperation and coordination between local 

13 law enforcement tasked with wildlife or park protec14 tion and local defense forces, where appropriate, in15 cluding training opportunities, logistical support, or 

16 provision of equipment. 

17 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF MAJOR WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING 

18 COUNTRIES AND AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD 

19 CERTAIN ASSISTANCE. 

20 (a) REPORT.—Not later than September 15 of each 

21 year, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Sec22 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, 

23 shall submit to Congress a report that lists each foreign 

24 country determined to be a major source of wildlife traf25 ficking products or their derivatives, a major transit point 
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1 of wildlife trafficking products or their derivatives, or a 

2 major consumer of wildlife trafficking products or their 

3 derivatives. 

4 (b) SPECIAL DESIGNATION.—In each report required 

5 under subsection (a), the Secretary of State, in consulta6 tion with the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of 

7 Commerce, shall— 

8 (1) designate each country listed in the report 

9 that has failed demonstrably, during the previous 

10 12-month period, to make substantial efforts to ad11 here to its obligations under international agree12 ments relating to endangered or threatened species; 

13 and 

14 (2) include a short justification for each deter15 mination made under paragraph (1). 

16 (c) WITHHOLDING OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

17 of State may withhold assistance described in subsection 

18 (d) with respect to each foreign country that is specially 

19 designated under subsection (b). 

20 (d) ASSISTANCE DESCRIBED.—The assistance de21 scribed in this subsection are sections 516, 524, and 541 

22 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j, 

23 2344, or 2347), chapter 6 of part II of the Foreign Assist24 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2348 et seq.), and section 

25 23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763). 
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1 (e) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of State shall no2 tify— 

3 (1) the government of each foreign country that 

4 is listed in the report required under subsection (a) 

5 that the country has been so listed; and 

6 (2) the government of each foreign country that 

7 is specially designated under subsection (b) and is 

8 subject to the withholding of assistance described in 

9 subsection (c). 

10 (f) REPORTING COST OFFSET.—Section 8 of Public 

11 Law 107–245 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is repealed. 

12 (g) SUNSET.—This section shall terminate on the 

13 date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of 

14 this Act. 

15 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SECURITY AS16 SISTANCE TO COUNTER WILDLIFE TRAF17 FICKING AND POACHING IN AFRICA. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

19 should continue to provide defense articles (not including 

20 significant military equipment), defense services, and re21 lated training to appropriate security forces of countries 

22 of Africa for the purposes of countering wildlife trafficking 

23 and poaching. 
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1 SEC. 7. UPDATES TO THE FISHERMEN’S PROTECTIVE ACT 

2 OF 1967. 

3 Section 8 of the Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967 

4 (22 U.S.C. 1978) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in 

7 consultation with the Secretary of State,’’ after 

8 ‘‘Secretary of Commerce’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, in 

10 consultation with the Secretary of State,’’ be11 fore ‘‘finds’’; 

12 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘in con13 sultation with the Secretary of State,’’ after ‘‘, 

14 as appropriate,’’; 

15 (D) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

16 paragraph (5), and by inserting after paragraph 

17 (3) the following: 

18 ‘‘(4) The Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary 

19 of the Interior shall each report to the Congress each cer20 tification to the President made by such Secretary under 

21 this subsection, within 15 days after making such certifi22 cation.’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘in consulta24 tion with the Secretary of State,’’ after ‘‘as the case 

25 may be,’’. 
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1 SEC. 8. WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING VIOLATIONS AS PREDI2 CATE OFFENSES UNDER RACKETEERING AND 

3 MONEY LAUNDERING STATUTES. 

4 (a) TRAVEL ACT.—Section 1952 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (b)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘or (3)’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘(3)’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘of this title and (ii)’’ and 

10 inserting the following: ‘‘of this title, or (4) any 

11 act that is a criminal violation of section 

12 9(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

13 (16 U.S.C. 1538(a)(1)), section 2203 of the Af14 rican Elephant Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

15 4223), or section 7(a) of the Rhinoceros and 

16 Tiger Conservation Act of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 

17 5305a(a)), if the endangered or threatened spe18 cies, products, items, or substances involved in 

19 the violation and relevant conduct, as applica20 ble, have a total value of more than $10,000 

21 and (ii)’’; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(f) USE OF AMOUNTS FROM FINES, FORFEITURES, 

24 AND RESTITUTION RELATING TO WILDLIFE TRAF25 FICKING VIOLATIONS.—Any amounts received by the 

26 United States as fines, forfeitures of property or assets, 
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1 or restitution to the Government for any violation under 

2 this section that involves an unlawful activity described in 

3 subsection (b)(i)(4) shall be transferred by the Secretary 

4 of the Treasury, to the extent practicable, to the Multi5 national Species Conservation Fund and used as provided 

6 in advance in appropriations Acts for the benefit of the 

7 species impacted by the applicable violation.’’. 

8 (b) MONEY LAUNDERING.—Section 1956 of title 18, 

9 United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (c)(7)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

12 at the end; 

13 (B) in subparagraph (F), by adding ‘‘or’’ 

14 at the end; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(G) any act or acts constituting a crimi17 nal violation of section 9(a)(1) of the Endan18 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

19 1538(a)(1)), section 2203 of the African Ele20 phant Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4223), or 

21 section 7(a) of the Rhinoceros and Tiger Con22 servation Act of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 5305a(a)), if 

23 the endangered or threatened species, products, 

24 items, or substances involved in the violation 
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1 and relevant conduct, as applicable, have a total 

2 value of more than $10,000;’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(j) USE OF AMOUNTS FROM CIVIL PENALTIES, 

5 FINES, FORFEITURES, AND RESTITUTION RELATING TO

6 WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING VIOLATIONS.—Any amounts re7 ceived by the United States as fines, forfeitures of prop8 erty or assets, or restitution to the Government for any 

9 violation under this section that involves an unlawful activ10 ity described in subsection (c)(7)(G) shall be transferred 

11 by the Secretary of the Treasury, to the extent practicable, 

12 to the Multinational Species Conservation Fund and used 

13 as provided in advance in appropriations Acts for the ben14 efit of the species impacted by the applicable violation.’’. 

15 (c) RICO.—Chapter 96 of title 18, United States 

16 Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in section 1961(1)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘or (G)’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘(G)’’; and 

20 (B) by inserting before the semicolon at 

21 the end the following: ‘‘, or (H) any act consti22 tuting a criminal violation of section 9(a)(1) of 

23 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

24 1538(a)(1)), section 2203 of the African Ele25 phant Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4223), or 
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1 section 7(a) of the Rhinoceros and Tiger Con2 servation Act of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 5305a(a)), if 

3 the endangered or threatened species, products, 

4 items, or substances involved in the violation 

5 and relevant conduct, as applicable, have a total 

6 value of more than $10,000’’; and 

7 (2) in section 1963, by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(n) USE OF AMOUNTS FROM FINES, FORFEITURES, 

10 AND RESTITUTION RELATING TO WILDLIFE TRAF11 FICKING VIOLATIONS.—Any amounts received by the 

12 United States as fines, forfeitures of property or assets, 

13 or restitution to the Government for any violation under 

14 section 1962 that is based on racketeering activity de15 scribed in section 1961(1)(H) shall be transferred by the 

16 Secretary of the Treasury, to the extent practicable, to the 

17 Multinational Species Conservation Fund and used as pro18 vided in advance in appropriations Acts for the benefit of 

19 the species impacted by the applicable violation.’’. 

20 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (1) USE OF AMOUNTS FROM FINES.—Section 

22 1402(b)(1)(A) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 

23 (42 U.S.C. 10601(b)(1)(A)) is amended— 

24 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

25 end; and 
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1 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(iii) sections 1952(f), 1956(j), and 

3 1963(n) of title 18, United States Code; 

4 and’’. 

5 (2) USE OF AMOUNTS FROM FORFEITURES.— 

6 Section 524(c)(4)(A) of title 28, United States Code, 

7 is amended by inserting before ‘‘or the Postmaster 

8 General’’ the following: ‘‘or section 1952(f), 1956(j), 

9 or 1963(n) of title 18,’’. 

10 SEC. 9. OTHER ACTIONS RELATING TO WILDLIFE TRAF11 FICKING PROGRAMS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State 

13 should dedicate sufficient program resources to— 

14 (1) conduct monitoring and evaluation, with a 

15 special emphasis where feasible on impact evalua16 tions, of wildlife trafficking programs consistent with 

17 the Department of State’s January 2015 Evaluation 

18 Policy; 

19 (2) publish program information on wildlife 

20 trafficking programs on the Department of State’s 

21 Internet website, ‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’ in a dig22 ital format consistent with the United States com23 mitment to the International Aid Transparency Ini24 tiative (IATI); and 
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1 (3) develop and implement a learning agenda to 

2 improve the performance and impact of wildlife traf3 ficking programs and to share best practices among 

4 relevant executive branch agencies. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 2, 

2015. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2494 

AN ACT 

To support global anti-poaching efforts, strengthen 

ficking countries, and for other purposes. life trafficking, designate major wildlife trafthe capacity of partner countries to counter wild-