Preventing Future Pandemics Act of 2021

Bill: 117-s-37
Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2021-01-25 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Agricultural marketing and promotion
Alternative treatments
Animal and plant health
Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Congressional oversight
Crimes against animals and natural resources
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Ecology
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Endangered and threatened species
Farmland
Food industry and services
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Foreign aid and international relief
Foreign property
Government studies and investigations
Health promotion and preventive care
Infectious and parasitic diseases
International law and treaties
International monetary system and foreign exchange
International organizations and cooperation
Land use and conservation
Law enforcement officers
Licensing and registrations
Livestock
Meat
Nutrition and diet
Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
Sanctions
Smuggling and trafficking
Trade agreements and negotiations
Trade restrictions
United Nations
Veterinary medicine and animal diseases
Visas and passports
War and emergency powers
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
World health

Summary:
action_date: 2021-01-25
text: 

Preventing Future Pandemics Act of 2021

 
This bill establishes measures to address global public health risks posed by wildlife markets, which are commercial markets that sell or slaughter wildlife for human consumption as food or medicine in communities where alternative nutritional or protein sources are available.
 
Specifically, the bill prohibits importing, exporting, purchasing, or selling live wild animals in the United States for human consumption as food or medicine. The Department of the Interior must hire, train, and deploy at least 50 new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement attach&eacute;s around the world, and the U.S. Agency for International Development must increase specified activities to address the threats and causes of zoonotic (animal-to-human transmission) disease outbreaks. Additionally, the United States must work with other United Nations member states to urge a global ban on commercial wildlife markets and enforcement of laws to end wildlife trafficking.
 
Further, the President may impose sanctions against a foreign country or foreign nationals that the Department of State has determined are taking certain actions that enable or facilitate commercial wildlife markets.
 
Among other reports required by the bill, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine must conduct a study and submit a report that includes an evaluation of (1) the impact that consumption of terrestrial wildlife as food or medicine has on the transmission of novel viral and other pathogens, (2) the role of consuming terrestrial wildlife as food or medicine in the transmission of microbes from animals to humans, and (3) the conditions at live wildlife markets that lead to this transmission.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2021-01-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2021-01-25
text: Introduced in Senate