I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3480 

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 

JULY 31, 2009 

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. HARE, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. LEWIS

of Georgia, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. HOLT, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. SERRANO, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. KUCINICH, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. LINDA

T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, and Mr. FARR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 

and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs 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 

or advertised as containing, 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 of 2009’’. 

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 listed on appendix I or II, 

19 and the Parties to CITES adopted a resolution in 

20 1997 (Conf. 10.8) urging the Parties to take imme21 diate action to demonstrably reduce the illegal trade 

22 in bear parts; 

23 (3) thousands of bears in Asia are cruelly con24 fined in small cages to be milked for their bile, and 

25 the wild Asian bear population has declined signifiVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:04 Aug 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480

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1 cantly in recent years, as a result of habitat loss and 

2 poaching due to a strong demand for bear viscera 

3 used in traditional medicines and cosmetics; 

4 (4) Federal and State undercover operations 

5 have revealed that American bears have been 

6 poached for their viscera; 

7 (5) while most American black bear populations 

8 are generally stable or increasing, commercial trade 

9 could stimulate poaching and threaten certain popu10 lations if the demand for bear viscera increases; and 

11 (6) prohibitions against the importation into 

12 the United States and exportation from the United 

13 States, as well as prohibitions against the interstate 

14 trade, of bear viscera and products containing, or la15 beled or advertised as containing, bear viscera will 

16 assist in ensuring that the United States does not 

17 contribute to the decline of any bear population as 

18 a result of the commercial trade in bear viscera. 

19 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

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

21 viability of the world’s 8 bear species by— 

22 (1) prohibiting interstate and international 

23 trade in bear viscera and products containing, or la24 beled or advertised as containing, bear viscera; 


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1 (2) encouraging bilateral and multilateral ef2 forts to eliminate such trade; and 

3 (3) ensuring that adequate Federal legislation 

4 exists with respect to domestic trade in bear viscera 

5 and products containing, or labeled or advertised as 

6 containing, bear viscera. 

7 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

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

10 means the body fluids or internal organs, including 

11 the gallbladder and its contents but not including 

12 blood or brains, of a species of bear. 

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

14 land on, bring into, or introduce into any place sub15 ject to the jurisdiction of the United States, whether 

16 or not the landing, bringing, or introduction con17 stitutes an importation within the meaning of the 

18 customs laws of the United States. 

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

20 (A) an individual, corporation, partnership, 

21 trust, association, or other private entity; 

22 (B) an officer, employee, agent, depart23 ment, or instrumentality of— 

24 (i) the Federal Government; 


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1 (ii) any State, municipality, or polit2 ical subdivision of a State; or 

3 (iii) any foreign government; 

4 (C) any other entity subject to the jurisdic5 tion of the United States. 

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

7 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

9 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

10 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Com11 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Amer12 ican Samoa, and any other territory, commonwealth, 

13 or possession of the United States. 

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

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

16 deliver or receive for the purpose of movement, con17 veyance, carriage, or shipment. 

18 SEC. 5. PROHIBITED ACTS. 

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

20 (b), a person shall not— 

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

22 States bear viscera or any product, item, or sub23 stance containing, or labeled or advertised as con24 taining, bear viscera; or 


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1 (2) sell or barter, offer to sell or barter, pur2 chase, possess, transport, deliver, or receive, in inter3 state or foreign commerce, bear viscera or any prod4 uct, item, or substance containing, or labeled or ad5 vertised as containing, bear viscera. 

6 (b) EXCEPTION FOR WILDLIFE LAW ENFORCEMENT

7 PURPOSES.—A person described in subparagraph (B) of 

8 section 4(3) may import into, or export from, the United 

9 States, or transport between States, bear viscera or any 

10 product, item, or substance containing, or labeled or ad11 vertised as containing, bear viscera if the importation, ex12 portation, or transportation— 

13 (1) is solely for purposes of enforcing laws re14 lating to the protection of wildlife; and 

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

16 appendix I or II of the Convention on International 

17 Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and 

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

19 which such a permit is required under the Conven20 tion. 

21 SEC. 6. PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT. 

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

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

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

25 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 


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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) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE.—Any bear viscera or 

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

12 bartered, attempted to be exported, imported, sold, 

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

14 transported, delivered, or received in violation of this sec15 tion (including any regulation issued under this section) 

16 shall be seized and forfeited to the United States. 

17 (d) REGULATIONS.—After consultation with the Sec18 retary of the Treasury and the United States Trade Rep19 resentative, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as 

20 are necessary 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 enVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:28 Aug 04, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480

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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 BEAR CONSERVATION 

8 AND THE BEAR PARTS TRADE. 

9 The Secretary shall continue discussions concerning 

10 trade in bear viscera with the appropriate representatives 

11 of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in 

12 Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and with 

13 other representatives of countries that are not party to 

14 the Convention which are determined by the Secretary and 

15 the United States Trade Representative to be the leading 

16 importers, exporters, or consumers of bear viscera, in 

17 order to seek to establish coordinated efforts with these 

18 countries to protect bears. 

19 SEC. 8. CERTAIN RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED. 

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

21 shall be construed to affect the regulation by any State 

22 of its bear population or to affect the hunting of bears 

23 that is lawful under applicable State laws and regulations. 

Æ 


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