II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3472 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 11 (legislative day, JANUARY 10), 2022 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 

and Public Works 

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 

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 Poaching Elimi5 nation Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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

2 bear, brown bear, polar bear, American black bear, 

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

4 bear—are listed on appendix I or II of CITES; 

5 (2) Article XIV of CITES provides that Parties 

6 to CITES may adopt stricter domestic measures re7 garding the conditions for trade, taking, possession, 

8 or transport of species listed on appendix I or II of 

9 CITES, and the Parties to CITES adopted a resolu10 tion in 1997 (Conf. 10.8) urging the Parties to take 

11 immediate action to demonstrably reduce the illegal 

12 trade in bear parts; 

13 (3) thousands of bears in Asia are cruelly con14 fined in small cages to be milked for their bile, and 

15 the wild Asian bear population has declined signifi16 cantly in recent years as a result of habitat loss and 

17 poaching due to a strong demand for bear viscera 

18 used in traditional medicines and cosmetics; 

19 (4) Federal and State undercover operations 

20 have revealed that American bears have been 

21 poached for their viscera; 

22 (5) while most American black bear populations 

23 are generally stable or increasing, commercial trade 

24 could stimulate poaching and threaten certain popu25 lations if the demand for bear viscera increases; and 


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1 (6) prohibitions against the importation into 

2 the United States and exportation from the United 

3 States, as well as prohibitions against the interstate 

4 trade, of bear viscera and products containing, or la5 beled or advertised as containing, bear viscera will 

6 assist in ensuring that the United States does not 

7 contribute to the decline of any bear population as 

8 a result of the commercial trade in bear viscera. 

9 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

10 The purpose of this Act is to ensure the long-term 

11 viability of the 8 bear species of the world by— 

12 (1) prohibiting interstate and international 

13 trade in bear viscera and products containing, or la14 beled or advertised as containing, bear viscera; 

15 (2) encouraging bilateral and multilateral ef16 forts to eliminate that trade; and 

17 (3) ensuring that adequate Federal legislation 

18 exists with respect to domestic trade in bear viscera 

19 and products containing, or labeled or advertised as 

20 containing, bear viscera. 

21 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) BEAR VISCERA.—The term ‘‘bear viscera’’ 

24 means the body fluids or internal organs, including 

25 the gallbladder and the contents of the gallbladder, 


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1 but not including the blood or brains, of a species 

2 of bear. 

3 (2) CITES.—The term ‘‘CITES’’ means the 

4 Convention on International Trade in Endangered 

5 Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (27 UST 1087; 

6 TIAS 8249). 

7 (3) IMPORT.—The term ‘‘import’’ means to 

8 land on, bring into, or introduce into any place sub9 ject to the jurisdiction of the United States, whether 

10 or not the landing, bringing, or introduction con11 stitutes an importation within the meaning of the 

12 customs laws of the United States. 

13 (4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 

14 (A) an individual, corporation, partnership, 

15 trust, association, or other private entity; 

16 (B) an officer, employee, agent, depart17 ment, or instrumentality of— 

18 (i) the Federal Government; 

19 (ii) any State, municipality, or polit20 ical subdivision of a State; or 

21 (iii) any foreign government; and 

22 (C) any other entity subject to the jurisdic23 tion of the United States. 

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

25 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 

2 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

3 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Com4 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Amer5 ican Samoa, and any other territory, commonwealth, 

6 or possession of the United States. 

7 (7) TRANSPORT.—The term ‘‘transport’’ 

8 means— 

9 (A) to move, convey, carry, or ship by any 

10 means; and 

11 (B) to deliver or receive for the purpose of 

12 movement, conveyance, carriage, or shipment. 

13 SEC. 5. PROHIBITED ACTS. 

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

15 (b), it shall be unlawful for a person to knowingly— 

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

17 States bear viscera or any product, item, or sub18 stance containing, or labeled or advertised as con19 taining, bear viscera; or 

20 (2) sell or barter, offer to sell or barter, pur21 chase, possess, transport, deliver, or receive, in inter22 state or foreign commerce, bear viscera or any prod23 uct, item, or substance containing, or labeled or ad24 vertised as containing, bear viscera. 


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1 (b) EXCEPTION FOR WILDLIFE LAW ENFORCEMENT

2 PURPOSES.—A person described in section 4(4)(B) may 

3 import into, or export from, the United States, or trans4 port between States, bear viscera or any product, item, 

5 or substance containing, or labeled or advertised as con6 taining, bear viscera if the importation, exportation, or 

7 transportation— 

8 (1) is solely for purposes of enforcing laws re9 lating to the protection of wildlife; and 

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

11 appendix I or II of CITES, in any case in which 

12 such a permit is required under CITES. 

13 SEC. 6. PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT. 

14 (a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—A person that violates 

15 section 5 shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, 

16 imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. 

17 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

18 (1) AMOUNT.—A person that violates section 5 

19 may be assessed a civil penalty by the Secretary of 

20 not more than $25,000 for each violation. 

21 (2) MANNER OF ASSESSMENT AND COLLEC22 TION.—A civil penalty under this subsection shall be 

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

24 which a civil penalty under the Endangered Species 

25 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) may be asVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jan 11, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3472.IS S3472

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1 sessed and collected under section 11(a) of that Act 

2 (16 U.S.C. 1540(a)). 

3 (c) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE.—Any bear viscera or 

4 any product, item, or substance exported, imported, sold, 

5 bartered, attempted to be exported, imported, sold, or 

6 bartered, offered for sale or barter, purchased, possessed, 

7 transported, delivered, or received in violation of this sec8 tion (including any regulation issued under this section) 

9 shall be seized and forfeited to the United States. 

10 (d) REGULATIONS.—After consultation with the Sec11 retary of the Treasury and the United States Trade Rep12 resentative, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as 

13 are necessary to carry out this section. 

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

15 the Treasury, and the Secretary of the department in 

16 which the Coast Guard is operating shall enforce this sec17 tion in the manner in which the Secretaries carry out en18 forcement activities under section 11(e) of the Endangered 

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

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

21 as penalties, fines, or forfeiture of property under this sec22 tion shall be used in accordance with section 6(d) of the 

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


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1 SEC. 7. DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING BEAR CONSERVATION 

2 AND THE BEAR PARTS TRADE. 

3 The Secretary shall continue discussions concerning 

4 trade in bear viscera with the appropriate representatives 

5 of Parties to CITES and representatives of countries that 

6 are not party to CITES that are determined by the Sec7 retary and the United States Trade Representative to be 

8 the leading importers, exporters, or consumers of bear 

9 viscera, to seek to establish coordinated efforts with those 

10 countries to protect bears. 

11 SEC. 8. CERTAIN RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED. 

12 Except as provided in section 5, nothing in this Act 

13 affects— 

14 (1) the regulation by any State of the bear pop15 ulation of that State; or 

16 (2) the hunting of bears that is lawful under 

17 applicable State laws (including regulations). 

Æ 


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