What This Bill Does
This bill increases criminal penalties for people who lie about where international mail packages come from. It also ends the ability to let certain countries skip sending advance shipping information for all their mail packages. The bill requires annual reports on whether foreign countries are providing required package information.
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Who It Affects
People who commit mail fraud involving false country-of-origin information; foreign postal operators (the mail systems of other countries); the Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the U.S. Postal Service; the Postmaster General; the Attorney General; Congress; and private package delivery companies.
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Key Provisions
- Anyone who knowingly lies about a package's country of origin while committing mail fraud can be fined, imprisoned for up to 5 years, or both (Sec. 2)
- The Department of Homeland Security can seize and forfeit international mail packages involved in country-of-origin fraud (Sec. 2)
- The authority to exclude countries from the requirement to provide advance information for 100 percent of mail shipments ends 5 years after this law passes (Sec. 3)
- The Secretary of Homeland Security must submit an annual report to Congress about whether foreign countries are providing required shipping information (Sec. 4)
- Government officials may partner with private companies to develop technology for identifying the origin of packages containing illegal drugs (Sec. 5)
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, people who misrepresent a package's country of origin while committing mail fraud face stricter criminal penalties including up to 5 years in prison. Within 5 years, all countries must provide advance shipping information for 100 percent of their international mail packages to the United States, with no exceptions allowed. The government must now publish annual reports about how well countries are following these information-sharing requirements.
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Important Definitions
- **Advance electronic information:** Shipping details that must be sent before packages arrive, including country of origin
- **International mail shipment:** A mail package being sent between countries
- **Illicit synthetic opioids:** Illegal drugs like fentanyl
- **Seizure and forfeiture:** The government's power to take and keep property involved in crimes
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
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 per-
cent of mail shipments under the STOP Act of 2018,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘STOP Act 2.0’’.
4
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•S 986 IS
SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR MAIL FRAUD INVOLVING
1
MISREPRESENTATION OF COUNTRY OF ORI-
2
GIN.
3
Section 1341 of title 18, United States Code, is
4
amended—
5
(1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting the fol-
6
lowing:
7
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever’’; and
8
(2) by adding at the end the following:
9
‘‘(b) MISREPRESENTATION OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
10
OF INTERNATIONAL MAIL SHIPMENTS.—
11
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person that, in violating
12
subsection (a) or conspiring under section 371 or
13
1349 to violate subsection (a), knowingly misrepre-
14
sents the country of origin of an international mail
15
shipment in information required to be submitted
16
under section 343(a) of the Trade Act of 2002 (19
17
U.S.C. 1415(a)), shall in addition to any other pen-
18
alty for the offense, be fined under this title, impris-
19
oned not more than 5 years, or both.
20
‘‘(2) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE.—The author-
21
ity of the Department of Homeland Security under
22
subsection (c)(14) of section 592 of the Tariff Act
23
of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1592) with respect to seizure
24
and forfeiture shall apply with respect to inter-
25
national mail shipments described in paragraph (1)
26
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•S 986 IS
to the same extent that such authority applies with
1
respect to merchandise entered or attempted to be
2
entered in violation of subsection (a) of such section
3
592.’’.
4
SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO EXCLUDE COUN-
5
TRIES FROM REQUIREMENT TO TRANSMIT
6
ADVANCE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION FOR
7
100 PERCENT OF MAIL SHIPMENTS.
8
Section 343(a)(3)(K)(vi) of the Trade Act of 2002
9
(19 U.S.C. 1415(a)(3)(K)(vi)) is amended by adding at
10
the end the following:
11
‘‘(V) The authority provided by subclause
12
(II) to exclude a country from the requirement
13
described in subclause (I) shall terminate on
14
the date that is 5 years after the date of the
15
enactment of the STOP Act 2.0.’’.
16
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH ADVANCE
17
ELECTRONIC INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.
18
Section 8003 of the STOP Act of 2018 (subtitle A
19
of title VIII of Public Law 115–271; 132 Stat. 4077) is
20
amended by striking subsections (c) through (f) and in-
21
serting the following:
22
‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLIANCE.—
23
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year
24
after the date of the enactment of the STOP Act
25
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•S 986 IS
2.0, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Home-
1
land Security shall submit to the appropriate con-
2
gressional committees a report on compliance with
3
the requirements of section 343(a) of the Trade Act
4
of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 1415(a)) that includes the fol-
5
lowing:
6
‘‘(A) An update regarding new and exist-
7
ing agreements reached with foreign postal op-
8
erators for the transmission of the information
9
required by paragraph (3)(K) of that section.
10
‘‘(B) A summary of deliberations between
11
the United States Postal Service and foreign
12
postal operators with respect to issues relating
13
to the transmission of that information.
14
‘‘(C) A summary of the progress made in
15
achieving the transmission of that information
16
for the percentage of shipments required by
17
that paragraph, including the results of random
18
checks and information disaggregated by postal
19
and nonpostal data.
20
‘‘(D) An assessment of the quality of that
21
information being received by foreign postal op-
22
erators, as determined by the Secretary, and ac-
23
tions taken to improve the quality of that infor-
24
mation, including estimates of—
25
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‘‘(i) the amount of information re-
1
quired by section 343(a) of the Trade Act
2
of 2002 that is missing elements, incom-
3
plete, inaccurate, or apparently false;
4
‘‘(ii) the number of shipments that
5
U.S. Customs and Border Protection re-
6
quested to be searched as a result of infor-
7
mation required by that section;
8
‘‘(iii) how many shipments were actu-
9
ally searched pursuant to such a request;
10
and
11
‘‘(iv) the results of such searches, in-
12
cluding the number of illicit narcotics and
13
counterfeit goods identified during such
14
searches.
15
‘‘(E) A description of the results of ran-
16
domized tests of packages entering the United
17
States to assess the rate of compliance with the
18
requirements of section 343(a) of the Trade Act
19
of 2002—
20
‘‘(i) disaggregated by packages trans-
21
ported by the United States Postal Service
22
and packages transported by private car-
23
riers; and
24
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‘‘(ii) that takes into account, as rel-
1
evant, the way that the factors set forth in
2
paragraph (3) of that section may affect
3
any differences identified between packages
4
transported by the United States Postal
5
Service and packages transported by pri-
6
vate carriers.
7
‘‘(F) For each report submitted during the
8
5-year period beginning on the date of the en-
9
actment of the STOP Act 2.0—
10
‘‘(i) a list of the countries that, during
11
the year preceding submission of the re-
12
port, were excluded from the requirement
13
under
subclause
(I)
of
section
14
343(a)(3)(K)(vi) of the Trade Act of 2002
15
that advance information be provided for
16
100 percent of international mail ship-
17
ments pursuant to subclause (II) of that
18
section; and
19
‘‘(ii) for any country on the list re-
20
quired by clause (i) that has been excluded
21
from the requirement described in that
22
clause for each of the preceding 3 years—
23
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•S 986 IS
‘‘(I) an identification of the rea-
1
sons why the country remains on the
2
list; and
3
‘‘(II) a description of steps that
4
are being taken to ensure that the
5
country is prepared for the termi-
6
nation of the authority to exclude
7
countries from that requirement ter-
8
minates under subclause (V) of that
9
section (as added by section 3 of the
10
STOP Act 2.0).
11
‘‘(G) A summary of policies established by
12
the Universal Postal Union that may affect the
13
ability of the Postmaster General to obtain the
14
transmission of the information required by sec-
15
tion 343(a) of the Trade Act of 2002.
16
‘‘(H) A summary of the use of technology
17
to detect illicit synthetic opioids and other ille-
18
gal substances in international mail parcels and
19
planned acquisitions and advancements in such
20
technology.
21
‘‘(I) Such other information as the Sec-
22
retary of Homeland Security and the Post-
23
master General consider appropriate with re-
24
spect to obtaining the transmission of informa-
25
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•S 986 IS
tion required by section 343(a)(3)(K) of the
1
Trade Act of 2002.
2
‘‘(2) FORM OF REPORT.—
3
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each report required
4
by paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassi-
5
fied form but may include a classified annex.
6
‘‘(B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The unclas-
7
sified portion of the report required by para-
8
graph (1) may be made available on a publicly
9
accessible internet website of the United States
10
Postal Service.
11
‘‘(3) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
12
TEES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘ap-
13
propriate congressional committees’ means—
14
‘‘(A) the Committee on the Judiciary and
15
the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-
16
ernmental Affairs of the Senate; and
17
‘‘(B) the Committee on the Judiciary and
18
the Committee on Homeland Security of the
19
House of Representatives.’’.
20
SEC. 5. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.
21
The Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney
22
General, and the Postmaster General may enter into a
23
public-private partnership with private parcel services or
24
other private information technology entities to develop
25
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•S 986 IS
technology and processes for identifying information that
1
could be used to identify the origin of fentanyl, other syn-
2
thetic opioids, and other narcotics and psychoactive sub-
3
stances, and precursors to such substances, including in-
4
formation on the origin of parcels and shipping informa-
5
tion.
6
SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION AND INFORMA-
7
TION SHARING.
8
The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation
9
with Secretary of State, may, as appropriate, share with
10
and receive from the governments of foreign countries that
11
are allies of the United States, consistent with existing
12
law (including contractual obligations), information with
13
respect to—
14
(1) shippers with a history of transporting illicit
15
fentanyl, other synthetic opioids, and other narcotics
16
and psychoactive substances, and precursors to such
17
substances; and
18
(2) best practices regarding the detection of
19
such substances, including such substances moving
20
through the mail.
21
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SEC. 7. TRAINING OF U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTEC-
1
TION OFFICERS WITH RESPECT TO DETECT-
2
ING SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS.
3
The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro-
4
tection shall provide to officers of U.S. Customs and Bor-
5
der Protection training in detecting illicit fentanyl, other
6
synthetic opioids, and other narcotics and psychoactive
7
substances, and precursors to such substances, entering
8
the United States, including training with respect to the
9
use of detection equipment and trends in the transpor-
10
tation of such substances.
11
SEC. 8. EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF STOP ACT
12
OF 2018.
13
Not later than one year after the date of the enact-
14
ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
15
States shall submit to Congress a report evaluating the
16
implementation of the provisions of and amendments
17
made by the STOP Act of 2018 (subtitle A of title VIII
18
of Public Law 115–271; 132 Stat. 4073) that includes—
19
(1) identification of potential areas of risk with
20
respect to the entry of illicit fentanyl, other synthetic
21
opioids, and other narcotics and psychoactive sub-
22
stances into the United States by mail, including
23
any gaps that drug traffickers have found in the sys-
24
tem established under the STOP Act of 2018, that
25
takes into account, as relevant, the factors set forth
26
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•S 986 IS
in section 343(a)(3) of the Trade Act of 2002 (19
1
U.S.C. 1415(a)(3));
2
(2)(A) a description—
3
(i) of any significant differences in rates of
4
compliance with that section between packages
5
transported by the United States Postal Service
6
and packages transported by private carriers;
7
and
8
(ii) that takes into account, as relevant,
9
the way that the factors set forth in paragraph
10
(3) of that section may affect any such dif-
11
ferences; and
12
(B) an analysis of how, if at all, those dif-
13
ferences may contribute to the risks identified in
14
paragraph (1); and
15
(3) an assessment of—
16
(A) the use of the authority provided under
17
subclause (II) of section 343(a)(3)(K)(vi) of the
18
Trade
Act
of
2002
(19
U.S.C.
19
1415(a)(3)(K)(vi)) to exclude countries from
20
the requirement under subclause (I) of that sec-
21
tion that advance information be provided for
22
100 percent of international mail shipments;
23
and
24
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(B) whether the use of that authority
1
should be decreased during the period before
2
that authority terminates under subclause (V)
3
of that section (as added by section 3).
4
SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY.
5
If any provision of or amendment made by this Act,
6
or the application of such provision or amendment to any
7
person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the
8
remainder of the provisions of and amendments made by
9
this Act, and the application of such provisions and
10
amendments to any person or circumstance, shall not be
11
affected.
12
Æ
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