I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2166

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 10, 1999

Mr. PORTER (for himself, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BOEHLERT,

Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. WYNN, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. BONIOR, Mr.

CAPUANO, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.

BLAGOJEVICH, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr.

MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. ENGLISH,

Mr. LANTOS, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. STARK, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr.

GREENWOOD, Mr. DICKS, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms.

SLAUGHTER, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. FRANK

of Massachusetts, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. LEACH, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SMITH of

New Jersey, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Ms. ESHOO, Mr.

PALLONE, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. HORN, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.

BOUCHER, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. BROWN of

California, and Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition

to the Committees on International Relations, and Ways and Means, for

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

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
2

•HR 2166 IH

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) all 8 extant species of bear—Asian black

9 bear, brown bear, polar bear, American black bear,

10 spectacled bear, giant panda, sun bear, and sloth

11 bear—are listed on Appendix I or II of the Conven12 tion on International Trade in Endangered Species

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

14 8249) (referred to in this section as ‘‘CITES’’);

15 (2) Article XIV of CITES provides that Parties

16 to CITES may adopt stricter domestic measures re17 garding the conditions for trade, taking, possession,

18 or transport of species on Appendix I or II, and the

19 Parties to CITES adopted a resolution (Conf. 10.8)

20 urging Parties to take immediate action to demon21 strably reduce the illegal trade in bear parts and de22 rivatives;

23 (3) the Asian bear populations have declined

24 significantly in recent years, as a result of habitat
3

•HR 2166 IH

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 international trade in bear

22 viscera and products containing, or labeled or adver23 tised as containing, bear viscera;

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

•HR 2166 IH

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 blood or brains, of a species of bear.

11 (2) IMPORT.—The term ‘‘import’’ means to

12 land on, bring into, or introduce into any place sub13 ject to the jurisdiction of the United States, whether

14 or not the landing, bringing, or introduction con15 stitutes an importation within the meaning of the

16 customs laws of the United States.

17 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means—

18 (A) an individual, corporation, partnership,

19 trust, association, or other private entity;

20 (B) an officer, employee, agent, depart21 ment, or instrumentality of—

22 (i) the Federal Government;

23 (ii) any State, municipality, or polit24 ical subdivision of a State; or

25 (iii) any foreign government;
5

•HR 2166 IH

1 (C) a State, municipality, or political sub2 division of a State; and

3 (D) any other entity subject to the juris4 diction of the United States.

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

6 the Secretary of the Interior.

7 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State,

8 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

9 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Com10 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Amer11 ican Samoa, and any other territory, commonwealth,

12 or possession of the United States.

13 (6) TRANSPORT.—The term ‘‘transport’’ means

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

15 deliver or receive for the purpose of movement, con16 veyance, carriage, or shipment.

17 SEC. 5. PROHIBITED ACTS.

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

19 (b), a person shall not—

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

21 States bear viscera or any product, item, or sub22 stance containing, or labeled or advertised as con23 taining, bear viscera; or

24 (2) sell or barter, offer to sell or barter, pur25 chase, possess, transport, deliver, or receive, in inter-
6

•HR 2166 IH

1 state or foreign commerce, bear viscera or any prod2 uct, item, or substance containing, or labeled or ad3 vertised as containing, bear viscera.

4 (b) EXCEPTION FOR WILDLIFE LAW ENFORCEMENT

5 PURPOSES.—A person described in subparagraph (B) or

6 (C) of section 4(3) may import into, or export from, the

7 United States, or transport between States, bear viscera

8 or any product, item, or substance containing, or labeled

9 or advertised as containing, bear viscera if the importa10 tion, exportation, or transportation—

11 (1) is solely for wildlife law enforcement pur12 poses; and

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

14 Appendix I or II of the Convention on International

15 Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and

16 Flora (27 UST 1087; TIAS 8249), in any case in

17 which such a permit is required under the Conven18 tion.

19 SEC. 6. PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT.

20 (a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—A person that knowingly

21 violates section 5 shall be fined under title 18, United

22 States Code, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.

23 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—
7

•HR 2166 IH

1 (1) AMOUNT.—A person that knowingly violates

2 section 5 may be assessed a civil penalty by the Sec3 retary of not more than $25,000 for each violation.

4 (2) MANNER OF ASSESSMENT AND COLLEC5 TION.—A civil penalty under this subsection shall be

6 assessed, and may be collected, in the manner in

7 which a civil penalty under the Endangered Species

8 Act of 1973 may be assessed and collected under

9 section 11(a) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1540(a)).

10 (c) PRODUCTS, ITEMS, AND SUBSTANCES.—Any bear

11 viscera, or any product, item, or substance sold, imported,

12 or exported, or attempted to be sold, imported, or ex13 ported, in violation of this section (including any regula14 tion issued under this section) shall be seized and forfeited

15 to the United States.

16 (d) REGULATIONS.—After consultation with the Sec17 retary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Health and

18 Human Services, and the United States Trade Represent19 ative, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as are nec20 essary to carry out this section.

21 (e) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary, the Secretary of

22 the Treasury, and the Secretary of the department in

23 which the Coast Guard is operating shall enforce this sec24 tion in the manner in which the Secretaries carry out en-
8

•HR 2166 IH

1 forcement activities under section 11(e) of the Endangered

2 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1540(e)).

3 (f) USE OF PENALTY AMOUNTS.—Amounts received

4 as penalties, fines, or forfeiture of property under this sec5 tion shall be used in accordance with section 6(d) of the

6 Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d)).

7 SEC. 7. DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING TRADE PRACTICES.

8 The Secretary and the Secretary of State shall dis9 cuss issues involving trade in bear viscera with the appro10 priate representatives of countries trading with the United

11 States that are determined by the Secretary and the

12 United States Trade Representative to be the leading im13 porters, exporters, or consumers of bear viscera, and at14 tempt to establish coordinated efforts with the countries

15 to protect bears.

16 SEC. 8. REPORT.

17 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment

18 of this Act, the Secretary, in cooperation with appropriate

19 State agencies, shall submit to the Committee on Environ20 ment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee

21 on Resources of the House of Representatives a report de22 tailing the progress of efforts to end the illegal trade in

23 bear viscera.

Æ