STOP Act 2.0

Subjects: Foreign Trade and International Finance


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 986 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 986

       To increase the criminal penalty for mail fraud involving 
misrepresentation of the country of origin, to terminate the authority 
     to exclude countries from the requirement to transmit advance 
electronic information for 100 percent of mail shipments under the STOP 
                  Act of 2018, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 27, 2023

 Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Mrs. Capito) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To increase the criminal penalty for mail fraud involving 
misrepresentation of the country of origin, to terminate the authority 
     to exclude countries from the requirement to transmit advance 
electronic information for 100 percent of mail shipments under the STOP 
                  Act of 2018, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``STOP Act 2.0''.

SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR MAIL FRAUD INVOLVING MISREPRESENTATION OF 
              COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.

    Section 1341 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Whoever'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--Whoever''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Misrepresentation of Country of Origin of International Mail 
Shipments.--
            ``(1) In general.--A person that, in violating subsection 
        (a) or conspiring under section 371 or 1349 to violate 
        subsection (a), knowingly misrepresents the country of origin 
        of an international mail shipment in information required to be 
        submitted under section 343(a) of the Trade Act of 2002 (19 
        U.S.C. 1415(a)), shall in addition to any other penalty for the 
        offense, be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 
        years, or both.
            ``(2) Seizure and forfeiture.--The authority of the 
        Department of Homeland Security under subsection (c)(14) of 
        section 592 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1592) with 
        respect to seizure and forfeiture shall apply with respect to 
        international mail shipments described in paragraph (1) to the 
        same extent that such authority applies with respect to 
        merchandise entered or attempted to be entered in violation of 
        subsection (a) of such section 592.''.

SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO EXCLUDE COUNTRIES FROM REQUIREMENT 
              TO TRANSMIT ADVANCE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION FOR 100 
              PERCENT OF MAIL SHIPMENTS.

    Section 343(a)(3)(K)(vi) of the Trade Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 
1415(a)(3)(K)(vi)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(V) The authority provided by subclause (II) to 
                exclude a country from the requirement described in 
                subclause (I) shall terminate on the date that is 5 
                years after the date of the enactment of the STOP Act 
                2.0.''.

SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH ADVANCE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION 
              REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 8003 of the STOP Act of 2018 (subtitle A of title VIII of 
Public Law 115-271; 132 Stat. 4077) is amended by striking subsections 
(c) through (f) and inserting the following:
    ``(c) Annual Report on Compliance.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date 
        of the enactment of the STOP Act 2.0, and annually thereafter, 
        the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a report on compliance 
        with the requirements of section 343(a) of the Trade Act of 
        2002 (19 U.S.C. 1415(a)) that includes the following:
                    ``(A) An update regarding new and existing 
                agreements reached with foreign postal operators for 
                the transmission of the information required by 
                paragraph (3)(K) of that section.
                    ``(B) A summary of deliberations between the United 
                States Postal Service and foreign postal operators with 
                respect to issues relating to the transmission of that 
                information.
                    ``(C) A summary of the progress made in achieving 
                the transmission of that information for the percentage 
                of shipments required by that paragraph, including the 
                results of random checks and information disaggregated 
                by postal and nonpostal data.
                    ``(D) An assessment of the quality of that 
                information being received by foreign postal operators, 
                as determined by the Secretary, and actions taken to 
                improve the quality of that information, including 
                estimates of--
                            ``(i) the amount of information required by 
                        section 343(a) of the Trade Act of 2002 that is 
                        missing elements, incomplete, inaccurate, or 
                        apparently false;
                            ``(ii) the number of shipments that U.S. 
                        Customs and Border Protection requested to be 
                        searched as a result of information required by 
                        that section;
                            ``(iii) how many shipments were actually 
                        searched pursuant to such a request; and
                            ``(iv) the results of such searches, 
                        including the number of illicit narcotics and 
                        counterfeit goods identified during such 
                        searches.
                    ``(E) A description of the results of randomized 
                tests of packages entering the United States to assess 
                the rate of compliance with the requirements of section 
                343(a) of the Trade Act of 2002--
                            ``(i) disaggregated by packages transported 
                        by the United States Postal Service and 
                        packages transported by private carriers; and
                            ``(ii) that takes into account, as 
                        relevant, the way that the factors set forth in 
                        paragraph (3) of that section may affect any 
                        differences identified between packages 
                        transported by the United States Postal Service 
                        and packages transported by private carriers.
                    ``(F) For each report submitted during the 5-year 
                period beginning on the date of the enactment of the 
                STOP Act 2.0--
                            ``(i) a list of the countries that, during 
                        the year preceding submission of the report, 
                        were excluded from the requirement under 
                        subclause (I) of section 343(a)(3)(K)(vi) of 
                        the Trade Act of 2002 that advance information 
                        be provided for 100 percent of international 
                        mail shipments pursuant to subclause (II) of 
                        that section; and
                            ``(ii) for any country on the list required 
                        by clause (i) that has been excluded from the 
                        requirement described in that clause for each 
                        of the preceding 3 years--
                                    ``(I) an identification of the 
                                reasons why the country remains on the 
                                list; and
                                    ``(II) a description of steps that 
                                are being taken to ensure that the 
                                country is prepared for the termination 
                                of the authority to exclude countries 
                                from that requirement terminates under 
                                subclause (V) of that section (as added 
                                by section 3 of the STOP Act 2.0).
                    ``(G) A summary of policies established by the 
                Universal Postal Union that may affect the ability of 
                the Postmaster General to obtain the transmission of 
                the information required by section 343(a) of the Trade 
                Act of 2002.
                    ``(H) A summary of the use of technology to detect 
                illicit synthetic opioids and other illegal substances 
                in international mail parcels and planned acquisitions 
                and advancements in such technology.
                    ``(I) Such other information as the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security and the Postmaster General consider 
                appropriate with respect to obtaining the transmission 
                of information required by section 343(a)(3)(K) of the 
                Trade Act of 2002.
            ``(2) Form of report.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each report required by 
                paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form 
                but may include a classified annex.
                    ``(B) Public availability.--The unclassified 
                portion of the report required by paragraph (1) may be 
                made available on a publicly accessible internet 
                website of the United States Postal Service.
            ``(3) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In 
        this subsection, the term `appropriate congressional 
        committees' means--
                    ``(A) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
                Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
                of the Senate; and
                    ``(B) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
                Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
                Representatives.''.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.

    The Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the 
Postmaster General may enter into a public-private partnership with 
private parcel services or other private information technology 
entities to develop technology and processes for identifying 
information that could be used to identify the origin of fentanyl, 
other synthetic opioids, and other narcotics and psychoactive 
substances, and precursors to such substances, including information on 
the origin of parcels and shipping information.

SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION AND INFORMATION SHARING.

    The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with Secretary 
of State, may, as appropriate, share with and receive from the 
governments of foreign countries that are allies of the United States, 
consistent with existing law (including contractual obligations), 
information with respect to--
            (1) shippers with a history of transporting illicit 
        fentanyl, other synthetic opioids, and other narcotics and 
        psychoactive substances, and precursors to such substances; and
            (2) best practices regarding the detection of such 
        substances, including such substances moving through the mail.

SEC. 7. TRAINING OF U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION OFFICERS WITH 
              RESPECT TO DETECTING SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS.

    The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall 
provide to officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection training in 
detecting illicit fentanyl, other synthetic opioids, and other 
narcotics and psychoactive substances, and precursors to such 
substances, entering the United States, including training with respect 
to the use of detection equipment and trends in the transportation of 
such substances.

SEC. 8. EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF STOP ACT OF 2018.

    Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 
Congress a report evaluating the implementation of the provisions of 
and amendments made by the STOP Act of 2018 (subtitle A of title VIII 
of Public Law 115-271; 132 Stat. 4073) that includes--
            (1) identification of potential areas of risk with respect 
        to the entry of illicit fentanyl, other synthetic opioids, and 
        other narcotics and psychoactive substances into the United 
        States by mail, including any gaps that drug traffickers have 
        found in the system established under the STOP Act of 2018, 
        that takes into account, as relevant, the factors set forth in 
        section 343(a)(3) of the Trade Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 
        1415(a)(3));
            (2)(A) a description--
                    (i) of any significant differences in rates of 
                compliance with that section between packages 
                transported by the United States Postal Service and 
                packages transported by private carriers; and
                    (ii) that takes into account, as relevant, the way 
                that the factors set forth in paragraph (3) of that 
                section may affect any such differences; and
            (B) an analysis of how, if at all, those differences may 
        contribute to the risks identified in paragraph (1); and
            (3) an assessment of--
                    (A) the use of the authority provided under 
                subclause (II) of section 343(a)(3)(K)(vi) of the Trade 
                Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 1415(a)(3)(K)(vi)) to exclude 
                countries from the requirement under subclause (I) of 
                that section that advance information be provided for 
                100 percent of international mail shipments; and
                    (B) whether the use of that authority should be 
                decreased during the period before that authority 
                terminates under subclause (V) of that section (as 
                added by section 3).

SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of or amendment made by this Act, or the 
application of such provision or amendment to any person or 
circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of the 
provisions of and amendments made by this Act, and the application of 
such provisions and amendments to any person or circumstance, shall not 
be affected.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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