IB 

Union Calendar No. 439 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3210 

[Report No. 112–604] 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to limit the application 

of that Act with respect to plants and plant products that were imported 

before the effective date of amendments to that Act enacted in 2008, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 14, 2011 

Mr. COOPER (for himself, Mrs. BONO MACK, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 

Resources 

JULY 17, 2012 

Additional sponsors: Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. 

PAUL, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. COBLE, Mrs. 

ELLMERS, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. 

PAULSEN, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. 

RYAN of Ohio, Mr. POSEY, Mr. MATHESON, and Mr. MCCOTTER

JULY 17, 2012 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 14, 2011] 


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•HR 3210 RH

A BILL 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to limit 

the application of that Act with respect to plants and 

plant products that were imported before the effective 

date of amendments to that Act enacted in 2008, and 

for other purposes. 


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•HR 3210 RH

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 ‘‘Retailers and Enter5 tainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘RELIEF Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) Amendments to the Lacey Act Amendments 

10 of 1981 were enacted as part of the Food, Conserva11 tion, and Energy Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–246). 

12 (2) The 2008 amendments were intended to level 

13 the playing field for American businesses engaged in 

14 the responsible harvest, shipment, manufacture, and 

15 trade of plants and plant products whose prices had 

16 been undercut by a black market fueled by irrespon17 sible and illegal taking of protected plants around the 

18 globe. 

19 (3) The 2008 amendments were overly broad and 

20 their enforcement as enacted could criminalize actions 

21 of a good-faith owner, purchaser, or retailer of a 

22 plant or plant product, subjecting them to penalties 

23 that include forfeiture, fines, and imprisonment. 

24 (4) Sanctions for violating the 2008 amendments 

25 should be proportional to the act in violation. An inVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3210.RH H3210

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•HR 3210 RH

1 dividual who is not in the commercial shipping busi2 ness should not be held to the same standard of com3 pliance under that Act. 

4 (5) Individuals fear that they risk incurring 

5 those penalties by merely owning or traveling with a 

6 vintage musical instrument, antique furniture, or an7 other wood product. 

8 (6) The Department of the Interior and Depart9 ment of Justice have stated ‘‘people who unknowingly 

10 possess a musical instrument or other object con11 taining wood that was illegally taken, possessed, 

12 transported or sold in violation of law and who, in 

13 the exercise of due care would not have known that 

14 it was illegal, do not have criminal exposure.’’. 

15 (7) It is necessary to clarify the 2008 amend16 ments so that legally harvested new plant products 

17 can enter the market place. 

18 (8) Declaration requirements for plant products 

19 imported or manufactured prior to May 22, 2008, are 

20 unreasonable since the sourcing of plant products was 

21 not previously required by law. 

22 (9) Federal law enforcement officials should not 

23 engage in overzealous enforcement action under the 

24 2008 amendments. 


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1 (10) It is important to ensure that the appro2 priate agencies have the necessary funding to imple3 ment the current phases of the declaration require4 ment before considering any future phases. 

5 (11) The appropriate agencies have the responsi6 bility of providing a publicly accessible database so 

7 that everyone can be notified of the foreign laws of 

8 countries as they apply to the importation of plants. 

9 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS 

10 UNDER LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981. 

11 (a) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF ACT TO CERTAIN

12 PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS.—The Lacey Act Amend13 ments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.) is amended by redes14 ignating section 9 as section 10, and by inserting after sec15 tion 8 the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 9. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION TO CERTAIN PLANTS 

17 AND PLANT PRODUCTS. 

18 ‘‘This Act does not apply with respect to— 

19 ‘‘(1) any plant that was imported into the 

20 United States before May 22, 2008; or 

21 ‘‘(2) any finished plant or plant product the as22 sembly and processing of which was completed before 

23 May 22, 2008.’’. 


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1 (b) LIMITATIONS ON APPLICATION OF PLANT DEC2 LARATION REQUIREMENT.—Section 3(f) of such Act (16 

3 U.S.C. 3372(f)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘that is en5 tered for consumption (as that term is defined in part 

6 141.0a of title 19, Code of Federal Regulations, as in 

7 effect on the date of enactment of the Retailers and 

8 Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement 

9 Fairness Act)’’ after ‘‘plant’’; and 

10 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

11 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Paragraphs 

12 (1)’’; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(B)(i) In the case of a plant product that is de15 rived from a tree, a declaration under paragraph (1) 

16 or (2) is not required to include information referred 

17 to in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of that paragraph 

18 unless the plant product is solid wood. 

19 ‘‘(ii) The Administrator of the Animal and 

20 Plant Health Inspection Service shall issue regula21 tions that define the term ‘solid wood’ for purposes of 

22 this subparagraph.’’. 

23 (c) APPLICATION OF CIVIL FORFEITURE LAWS.—Sec24 tion 5(d) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3374(d)) is amended— 

25 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Civil’’; 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘, except as provided in para2 graphs (2) and (3) of this subsection’’ before the pe3 riod at the end; and 

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

5 ‘‘(2) Subsection (d)(4) of section 983 of such chapter, 

6 and the second sentence of subsection (a)(1)(F) of such sec7 tion, shall not apply to plants or plant products. 

8 ‘‘(3) This section is the sole authority for civil seizure 

9 or forfeiture actions alleging, or predicated upon, a viola10 tion of section 3.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF FOREIGN LAWS. 

12 (a) PROHIBITED ACTS.—Section 3(a) of such Act (16 

13 U.S.C. 3372(a)) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (2)(B), in clause (ii) and in 

15 clause (iii), by striking ‘‘foreign law’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘foreign law that is directed at the protection, con17 servation, and management of plants’’; and 

18 (2) in paragraph (3)(B), in clause (ii) and in 

19 clause (iii), by striking ‘‘foreign law’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘foreign law that is directed at the protection, con21 servation, and management of plants’’. 

22 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 4(a)(1) of such Act (16 

23 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘foreign law’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘foreign law that is directed at the protection, 

25 conservation, and management of plants’’. 


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•HR 3210 RH

1 SEC. 5. REVIEW AND REPORT. 

2 Section 3(f) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(f)) is amend3 ed— 

4 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘Not later than 

5 two years after the date of enactment of this sub6 section,’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later than 180 days after 

7 the date of enactment of the Retailers and Enter8 tainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fair9 ness Act,’’; and 

10 (2) in paragraph (5)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date on which the Secretary completes 

13 the review under paragraph (4), the Secretary’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date the Secretary completes the review under 

16 paragraph (4), the Director of the United States 

17 Fish and Wildlife Service’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at 

19 the end of subparagraph (B); 

20 (C) by striking the period at the end of sub21 paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

23 ‘‘(D) an evaluation of the feasibility of cre24 ating and maintaining a publicly available 

25 database of laws of foreign countries from which 

26 plants are exported.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 439 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3210 

[Report No. 112–604] 

A BILL 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to 

enacted in 2008, and for other purposes. fore the effective date of amendments to that Act plants and plant products that were imported belimit the application of that Act with respect to 

JULY 17, 2012 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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