I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 619

To prohibit the import, export, sale, purchase, possession, transportation,

acquisition, and receipt of bear viscera or products that contain or

claim to contain bear viscera, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 5, 1997

Mr. PORTER (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. OLVER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. MOLINARI, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs. KELLY, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. BENTSEN, Ms.

NORTON, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BROWN of California, Ms.

MCKINNEY, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. MANTON, Mr.

FARR of California, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr.

MCDERMOTT, Mr. SKAGGS, Mr. STARK, Mr. YATES, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr.

GILMAN, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ROGAN, Mr. GOSS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey,

Ms. PELOSI, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. LEACH, Mr.

BOUCHER, Mr. TORRES, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. COSTELLO,

Mr. EVANS, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. HORN, Mr. CAMPBELL,

Mr. TALENT, Ms. FURSE, and Mr. PAYNE) 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 prohibit the import, export, sale, purchase, possession,

transportation, acquisition, and receipt of bear viscera

or products that contain or claim to contain bear viscera,

and for other purposes.
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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 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

6 Congress finds that—

7 (1) there are 8 extant species of bear: Asian

8 black bear, brown bear, polar bear, American black

9 bear, spectacled bear, giant panda, sun bear, and

10 sloth bear;

11 (2) the Asian black bear populations have been

12 decimated in recent years by illegal trade to supply

13 the growing demand for medicines and cosmetics

14 containing valuable bear viscera;

15 (3) without immediate action to end United

16 States involvement in the lucrative black market

17 trade in bear viscera, American bear populations

18 may suffer the same devastating losses as Asian

19 bear populations;

20 (4) increasingly, undercover operations have

21 discovered that poachers are establishing extensive

22 smuggling networks to illegally commercialize Amer23 ican bears;

24 (5) because it is practically impossible to distin25 guish the viscera of CITES Appendix I bears from
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1 the viscera of other bear species, there is an urgent

2 need to eliminate the trade in the viscera of all bear

3 species;

4 (6) as a party to CITES, a world leader in

5 wildlife conservation, and a large market for and

6 supplier of bear viscera and products, the United

7 States shares responsibility for supporting and im8 plementing measures to stop the illegal trade in

9 CITES Appendix I Asian black bears and CITES

10 Appendix II American black bears;

11 (7) inconsistency in State prohibition of com12 mercialization of bear gall and inadequate Federal

13 regulation of such commercialization make law en14 forcement difficult; and

15 (8) individual States, which have the right to

16 set, maintain, and enforce quotas for the legal hunt17 ing of black bears, will be assisted in their manage18 ment efforts by the enactment of a Federal law ban19 ning the import of, export of, and interstate com20 merce in bear viscera.

21 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

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

23 viability of the world’s 8 bear species and specifically to

24 perpetuate healthy populations of American bears.
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1 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

2 It is the policy of the United States that effective

3 long-term conservation of the world’s bear species, includ4 ing North American bears, depends in part on the prohibi5 tion of the lucrative trade in bear viscera.

6 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

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

9 means the body fluids or internal organs (including

10 the gallbladder) of a species of bear.

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

12 Convention on International Trade in Endangered

13 Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, done at Washing14 ton on March 3, 1973 (27 UST 1087; TIAS 8249).

15 (3) OTHER TERMS.—The terms ‘‘import’’, ‘‘per16 son’’, ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘transport’’ have the meanings

17 provided in section 2 of the Lacey Act Amendments

18 of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371).

19 SEC. 6. PROHIBITED ACTS.

20 A person who—

21 (1) imports into the United States, or exports

22 from the United States, bear viscera or products

23 that contain or claim to contain bear viscera; or

24 (2) sells, barters, offers to sell or barter, pur25 chases, possesses with intent to sell or barter, trans26 ports, acquires, or receives in interstate or foreign
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1 commerce, bear viscera or products that contain or

2 claim to contain bear viscera;

3 shall be subject to section 7(a).

4 SEC. 7. PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—A person who engages in conduct

6 described in section 6 shall be subject to the penalties and

7 sanctions provided in sections 4 and 5 of the Lacey Act

8 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373 and 3374).

9 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall be enforced in

11 the manner provided in subsections (a), (b), and (c)

12 of section 6 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981

13 (16 U.S.C. 3375).

14 (2) USE OF PENALTY AMOUNTS FOR REWARDS

15 AND INCIDENTAL EXPENSES.—Amounts received as

16 penalties, fines, or forfeiture of property under sub17 section (a) shall be used in accordance with section

18 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16

19 U.S.C. 3375(d)).

20 SEC. 8. DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING TRADE PRACTICES.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior and

22 the United States Trade Representative shall—
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1 (1) discuss issues involving trade in bear viscera

2 with the appropriate representatives of such coun3 tries trading with the United States as are deter4 mined jointly by the Secretary of the Interior and

5 the Secretary of Commerce to be the leading import6 ers, exporters, or consumers of bear viscera; and

7 (2) attempt to establish coordinated efforts with

8 the countries to protect bears.

9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date

10 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior

11 shall submit to Congress a report describing the progress

12 of efforts to end illegal trade in bear viscera.

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