I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1945 
To amend the African Elephant Conservation Act and the Rhinoceros and 
Tiger Conservation Act to provide for trade sanctions against countries 
involved in illegal trade of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2015 
Mr. DEFAZIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 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 juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the African Elephant Conservation Act and the 
Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act to provide for 
trade sanctions against countries involved in illegal trade 
of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Targeted Use of Sanc-
tions for Killing Elephants and Rhinoceros Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— 
(1) poaching of African elephants and rhinoc-
eros has increased dramatically since 2006, and has 
reached levels that threaten the continued existence 
of many elephant and rhinoceros populations; 
(2) poaching of African elephants and rhinoc-
eros is being driven by increased demand for ivory 
and rhinoceros horn in Asia, which has caused ivory 
and rhinoceros horn prices to rise exponentially in 
recent years; 
(3) high prices have drawn organized criminal 
elements into the illegal trade of ivory and rhinoc-
eros horn, and it is widely recognized that 
transnational crime rings involved in trafficking in 
drugs, guns, and humans are also responsible for 
trafficking in large quantities of poached ivory and 
rhinoceros horn from Africa to Asia; 
(4) there is significant evidence that terrorist 
and insurgent groups in Africa, including groups 
with ties to Al Qaeda, are financing their operations 
through the sale of illegal ivory and rhinoceros horn; 
(5) the elephant and rhinoceros poaching crisis 
has become so severe, and the tactics of poachers so 
sophisticated, that traditional approaches to con-
servation law enforcement intended to protect ele-
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phants and rhinoceros in their habitat in Africa are 
failing; 
(6) a number of countries that serve as major 
source, transit, or destination points for illegal ivory 
and rhinoceros horn have proven unable or unwilling 
to stop the product from coming across their bor-
ders; and 
(7) strategies to reduce demand for ivory and 
rhinoceros horn through education and other non-
binding means are necessary, but not sufficient, to 
conserve African elephant and rhinoceros popu-
lations. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 
a means by which the United States can affect demand 
for and illegal trafficking of African elephant ivory and 
rhinoceros horn in other countries by requiring those 
countries to enter into consultations with the United 
States to end the illegal ivory and rhinoceros horn trade, 
as a condition of continued access to United States mar-
kets for other natural resource products. 
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TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE 
AFRICAN 
ELEPHANT 
CON-
SERVATION ACT 
SEC. 101. ILLEGAL TRADE DEFINED. 
Section 2305 of the African Elephant Conservation 
Act (16 U.S.C. 4244) is amended by redesignating para-
graphs (5) through (13) as paragraphs (6) through (14), 
respectively, and by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(5) ILLEGAL TRADE.—The term ‘illegal trade’ 
means any sale, purchase, barter, transit, or ex-
change of raw ivory or worked ivory that was taken, 
traded, imported, or exported in violation of the laws 
of an ivory-producing country, or of international 
wildlife trade agreements, including CITES.’’. 
SEC. 102. AMENDMENT TO FINDINGS IN AFRICAN ELE-
PHANT CONSERVATION ACT. 
Section 2003 of the African Elephant Conservation 
Act (16 U.S.C. 4202) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(10) Poaching and trafficking of wildlife has 
become a global crisis, funding organized criminal 
syndicates and terrorist organizations and harming 
elephant populations and local communities. African 
elephant ivory is at the center of this crisis, and im-
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mediate action is necessary to eliminate the demand 
for ivory and the profit incentive for poachers and 
traffickers.’’. 
SEC. 103. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
Section 2004 of the African Elephant Conservation 
Act (16 U.S.C. 4203) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the 
end of paragraph (1); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (2) and by inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) to prevent additional African elephant 
ivory from entering global commerce, and to reduce 
demand for ivory that is driving elephant poaching 
by limiting natural resources-related trade with 
countries whose nationals are engaged in illegal 
ivory trade.’’. 
SEC. 104. CERTIFICATION UNDER FISHERMEN’S PROTEC-
TIVE ACT OF 1967. 
Section 2202 of the African Elephant Conservation 
Act (16 U.S.C. 4222) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION.—If the CITES Standing Com-
mittee identifies any country as a country of primary con-
cern because it is a significant source or transit or destina-
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tion point for illegal trade of ivory, the Secretary shall 
issue a certification with respect to that country under sec-
tion 8(a) of the Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967 (22 
U.S.C. 1978(a)).’’. 
SEC. 105. CONSULTATION AND SANCTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of the African Elephant 
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 2206. CONSULTATION AND SANCTION. 
‘‘(a) CONSULTATION.—Not later than 30 days after 
a certification with respect to a country under section 
2202(g), the President, acting through the Secretary of 
the Interior, shall seek to enter into consultations with the 
government of the country for the purpose of obtaining 
an agreement under which the country will immediately 
and significantly reduce, and will commit to terminating, 
all illegal trade of ivory into, out of, or within that country. 
‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON TRADE IN RELATED NATURAL 
RESOURCES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If consultations with a gov-
ernment under subsection (a) are not satisfactorily 
concluded within 90 days or if a government refuses 
to enter into consultations, the President shall direct 
the Secretary to prohibit the importation into the 
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United States of products of wildlife, fish, and 
plants from that country until the earlier of— 
‘‘(A) the date an agreement with the coun-
try under subsection (a) is finalized; or 
‘‘(B) the date the Secretary finds that the 
country is no longer a significant source or 
transit or destination point for illegal ivory 
trade. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC
NOTICE.—The Secretary shall 
publish public notice of any prohibition under this 
subsection not later than 30 days before the effective 
date of the prohibition. 
‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF SANC-
TIONS.—Not later than 180 days after the effective date 
of a prohibition under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 
determine and report to Congress whether— 
‘‘(1) the prohibition is sufficient to cause the 
country to immediately and significantly reduce, and 
commit to terminating, illegal trade of ivory into, 
out of, or within that country; and 
‘‘(2) that country has retaliated against the 
United States as a result of that prohibition.’’. 
(b) 
COUNTRIES
IDENTIFIED
BEFORE
ENACT-
MENT.— 
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(1) APPLICATION
OF
PROHIBITION.—Section 
2206(b) of the African Elephant Conservation Act, 
as amended by this section, shall apply to a country 
that before the date of the enactment of this Act 
was identified by the CITES Standing Committee as 
a country of primary concern because it is a signifi-
cant source or transit or destination point for illegal 
trade of ivory, if the CITES Standing Committee 
has not rescinded such identification by that date of 
enactment. 
(2) CONSULTATION.—The President, acting 
through the Secretary of the Interior, shall seek to 
enter into consultations under section 2206(a) of the 
African Elephant Conservation Act, as amended by 
this section, with a country described in paragraph 
(1) of this subsection by not later than 30 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 
RHINOCEROS 
AND 
TIGER 
CONSERVATION ACT 
SEC. 201. AMENDMENT TO FINDINGS. 
Section 2 of the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation 
Act (16 U.S.C. 5301) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
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