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) intro-
duced 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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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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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Retailers and Enter-
tainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness 
Act’’ or the ‘‘RELIEF Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Amendments to the Lacey Act Amendments 
of 1981 were enacted as part of the Food, Conserva-
tion, and Energy Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–246). 
(2) The 2008 amendments were intended to level 
the playing field for American businesses engaged in 
the responsible harvest, shipment, manufacture, and 
trade of plants and plant products whose prices had 
been undercut by a black market fueled by irrespon-
sible and illegal taking of protected plants around the 
globe. 
(3) The 2008 amendments were overly broad and 
their enforcement as enacted could criminalize actions 
of a good-faith owner, purchaser, or retailer of a 
plant or plant product, subjecting them to penalties 
that include forfeiture, fines, and imprisonment. 
(4) Sanctions for violating the 2008 amendments 
should be proportional to the act in violation. An in-
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dividual who is not in the commercial shipping busi-
ness should not be held to the same standard of com-
pliance under that Act. 
(5) Individuals fear that they risk incurring 
those penalties by merely owning or traveling with a 
vintage musical instrument, antique furniture, or an-
other wood product. 
(6) The Department of the Interior and Depart-
ment of Justice have stated ‘‘people who unknowingly 
possess a musical instrument or other object con-
taining wood that was illegally taken, possessed, 
transported or sold in violation of law and who, in 
the exercise of due care would not have known that 
it was illegal, do not have criminal exposure.’’. 
(7) It is necessary to clarify the 2008 amend-
ments so that legally harvested new plant products 
can enter the market place. 
(8) Declaration requirements for plant products 
imported or manufactured prior to May 22, 2008, are 
unreasonable since the sourcing of plant products was 
not previously required by law. 
(9) Federal law enforcement officials should not 
engage in overzealous enforcement action under the 
2008 amendments. 
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(10) It is important to ensure that the appro-
priate agencies have the necessary funding to imple-
ment the current phases of the declaration require-
ment before considering any future phases. 
(11) The appropriate agencies have the responsi-
bility of providing a publicly accessible database so 
that everyone can be notified of the foreign laws of 
countries as they apply to the importation of plants. 
SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS 
UNDER LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981. 
(a) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF ACT TO CERTAIN 
PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS.—The Lacey Act Amend-
ments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.) is amended by redes-
ignating section 9 as section 10, and by inserting after sec-
tion 8 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 9. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION TO CERTAIN PLANTS 
AND PLANT PRODUCTS. 
‘‘This Act does not apply with respect to— 
‘‘(1) any plant that was imported into the 
United States before May 22, 2008; or 
‘‘(2) any finished plant or plant product the as-
sembly and processing of which was completed before 
May 22, 2008.’’. 
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(b) LIMITATIONS ON APPLICATION OF PLANT DEC-
LARATION REQUIREMENT.—Section 3(f) of such Act (16 
U.S.C. 3372(f)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘that is en-
tered for consumption (as that term is defined in part 
141.0a of title 19, Code of Federal Regulations, as in 
effect on the date of enactment of the Retailers and 
Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement 
Fairness Act)’’ after ‘‘plant’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (3)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Paragraphs 
(1)’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B)(i) In the case of a plant product that is de-
rived from a tree, a declaration under paragraph (1) 
or (2) is not required to include information referred 
to in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of that paragraph 
unless the plant product is solid wood. 
‘‘(ii) The Administrator of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service shall issue regula-
tions that define the term ‘solid wood’ for purposes of 
this subparagraph.’’. 
(c) APPLICATION OF CIVIL FORFEITURE LAWS.—Sec-
tion 5(d) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3374(d)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Civil’’; 
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(2) by inserting ‘‘, except as provided in para-
graphs (2) and (3) of this subsection’’ before the pe-
riod at the end; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) Subsection (d)(4) of section 983 of such chapter, 
and the second sentence of subsection (a)(1)(F) of such sec-
tion, shall not apply to plants or plant products. 
‘‘(3) This section is the sole authority for civil seizure 
or forfeiture actions alleging, or predicated upon, a viola-
tion of section 3.’’. 
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF FOREIGN LAWS. 
(a) PROHIBITED ACTS.—Section 3(a) of such Act (16 
U.S.C. 3372(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)(B), in clause (ii) and in 
clause (iii), by striking ‘‘foreign law’’ and inserting 
‘‘foreign law that is directed at the protection, con-
servation, and management of plants’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (3)(B), in clause (ii) and in 
clause (iii), by striking ‘‘foreign law’’ and inserting 
‘‘foreign law that is directed at the protection, con-
servation, and management of plants’’. 
(b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 4(a)(1) of such Act (16 
U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘foreign law’’ 
and inserting ‘‘foreign law that is directed at the protection, 
conservation, and management of plants’’. 
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SEC. 5. REVIEW AND REPORT. 
Section 3(f) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(f)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘Not later than 
two years after the date of enactment of this sub-
section,’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of the Retailers and Enter-
tainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fair-
ness Act,’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (5)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Not later than 180 days 
after the date on which the Secretary completes 
the review under paragraph (4), the Secretary’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the 
date the Secretary completes the review under 
paragraph (4), the Director of the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at 
the end of subparagraph (B); 
(C) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) an evaluation of the feasibility of cre-
ating and maintaining a publicly available 
database of laws of foreign countries from which 
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 
limit the application of that Act with respect to 
plants and plant products that were imported be-
fore the effective date of amendments to that Act 
enacted in 2008, and for other purposes. 
JULY 17, 2012 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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