Healthy Dog Importation Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6921 To amend the Animal Health Protection Act with respect to the importation of live dogs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 19, 2020 Mr. ABRAHAM (for himself, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. SCHRADER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Animal Health Protection Act with respect to the importation of live dogs, 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 ‘‘Healthy Dog Importa- 4 tion Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. IMPORTATION OF LIVE DOGS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Health Protection 7 Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 8 section 10404 (7 U.S.C. 8303) the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6921.IH H6921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6921 IH ‘‘SEC. 10404A. IMPORTATION OF LIVE DOGS. 1 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 3 graph (3), no person shall import a dog into the 4 United States unless, as determined by the Sec- 5 retary, the dog— 6 ‘‘(A) is in good health; 7 ‘‘(B) has received all necessary vaccina- 8 tions and demonstrated negative test results re- 9 quired by the Secretary, as evidenced by a cer- 10 tificate— 11 ‘‘(i) issued by a licensed veterinarian 12 accredited by a competent veterinary au- 13 thority recognized by the Secretary; and 14 ‘‘(ii) endorsed by such authority rep- 15 resenting that the veterinarian issuing the 16 certificate was authorized to do so; and 17 ‘‘(C) is officially identified by a permanent 18 method approved by the Secretary. 19 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER.—Except as provided in para- 20 graph (3), no person shall import or cause the trans- 21 portation of a dog into the United States from a for- 22 eign country for the purpose of transfer unless, as 23 determined by the Secretary, the dog— 24 ‘‘(A) meets the criteria specified in para- 25 graph (1); 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6921.IH H6921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6921 IH ‘‘(B) is at least 6 months old; and 1 ‘‘(C) is accompanied by an import permit 2 issued by the Secretary under this Act. 3 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary, by regula- 4 tion, shall provide an exception to any requirement 5 under this Act in any case in which a dog is im- 6 ported for purposes of transfer for— 7 ‘‘(A) research purposes; 8 ‘‘(B) veterinary treatment, paid for by the 9 importer, provided that the dog is taken directly 10 to a veterinary facility for treatment with ap- 11 propriate quarantine until the dog meets the 12 criteria specified in paragraph (1) and is then 13 exported to its country of origin; or 14 ‘‘(C) in the case of a dog that is less than 15 6 months old, lawful importation into the State 16 of Hawaii in compliance with the regulations of 17 the State of Hawaii and the other requirements 18 of this section if the dog is not transported out 19 of the State of Hawaii for resale at less than 20 6 months of age. 21 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION AND REGULATIONS.—The 22 Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 23 the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Home- 24 land Security, shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6921.IH H6921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6921 IH ‘‘(1) promulgate such regulations as the Secre- 1 taries determine to be necessary to implement and 2 enforce this section; 3 ‘‘(2) facilitate electronic submission of all re- 4 quired documentation and make the submitted infor- 5 mation available to the Secretary, the Secretary of 6 Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Com- 7 merce, and the Secretary of Homeland Security for 8 verification upon arrival; and 9 ‘‘(3) determine and establish such fees for the 10 issuance of permits and the inspection with respect 11 to dog importation as necessary to fund implementa- 12 tion and enforcement of this section. 13 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.— 14 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall have 15 the authority granted under section 10414 to en- 16 force this section. 17 ‘‘(2) PENALTIES.—An importer that fails to 18 comply with this section shall— 19 ‘‘(A) be subject to penalties under section 20 10414; and 21 ‘‘(B) if such importer is a dealer, provide, 22 as the Secretary may determine, at the expense 23 of the importer, for the care (including appro- 24 priate veterinary care), forfeiture, quarantine, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6921.IH H6921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6921 IH and removal from the United States and return 1 to its place of export with due care for the wel- 2 fare of each applicable dog. 3 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 ‘‘(1) IMPORTER.—The term ‘importer’ means 5 any person who transports or causes the transpor- 6 tation of a dog into the United States from a foreign 7 country. 8 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER.—The term ‘transfer’ means a 9 change of ownership or control of an imported dog 10 to another person, including by sale, adoption, ex- 11 change, or donation.’’. 12 (b) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Section 18 of the Ani- 13 mal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2148) is repealed. 14 SEC. 3. TRANSPORTATION. 15 (a) DEFINITION OF TRANSPORTER.—Section 2 of the 16 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended by add- 17 ing at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(p) The term ‘transporter’ means any person, de- 19 partment, agency, or instrumentality of the United States 20 or of any State or local government, other than a carrier 21 or intermediate handler, who receives an animal from any 22 importer, dealer, research facility, exhibitor, operator of 23 an auction sale, or department, agency, or instrumentality 24 of the United States or of any State or local government 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6921.IH H6921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6921 IH and receives compensation for moving such animal in com- 1 merce. 2 ‘‘(q) The term ‘compensation’ means any act or con- 3 sideration or thing of value received by a person directly, 4 including cash or noncash benefits, cost-avoidance, obtain- 5 ing positive or avoiding negative publicity, an exchange of 6 services, or maintaining a license issued under local, State, 7 or Federal government authority. 8 ‘‘(r) The term ‘sell’ or ‘resell’ means to transfer of 9 ownership or control of an animal, including by sale, adop- 10 tion, exchange, or donation.’’. 11 (b) HUMANE STANDARDS.—Section 13 of the Animal 12 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143) is amended— 13 (1) in subsection (a)(4)— 14 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘air 15 carriers,’’ and inserting ‘‘transporters, air car- 16 riers,’’; and 17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘The Secretary shall provide, by regulation, 19 that each transporter, intermediate handler, or 20 carrier receiving a certificate of veterinary in- 21 spection required under this section shall sub- 22 mit a copy of the certificate to the Secretary, 23 who shall record the information in a central- 24 ized, publicly available database.’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6921.IH H6921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6921 IH (2) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 1 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; and 2 (3) by striking ‘‘(f) No dogs or cats’’ and in- 3 serting ‘‘(g) No dogs or cats’’; 4 (4) in subsection (g), as redesignated by para- 5 graph (3)— 6 (A) in the first sentence— 7 (i) by inserting ‘‘importer,’’ before 8 ‘‘dealer’’; and 9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, transporter,’’ after 10 ‘‘intermediate handler’’ each place it ap- 11 pears; and 12 (B) in the second sentence— 13 (i) by inserting ‘‘, transporters,’’ after 14 ‘‘intermediate handlers’’; and 15 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 10 of this 16 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(4)’’ . 17 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri- 20 culture shall issue final regulations to implement the 21 amendments made by this Act, including the verification 22 upon arrival that each dog being imported into the United 23 States from a foreign country meets all applicable impor- 24 tation requirements and the denial of entry into the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6921.IH H6921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6921 IH United States of any dog that fails to meet such require- 1 ments. 2 (b) TRANSITION PERIOD.—Until the date on which 3 final regulations are issued under subsection (a), the im- 4 portation of live dogs shall be regulated in accordance with 5 the regulations issued under section 18 of the Animal Wel- 6 fare Act (7 U.S.C. 2148) in effect on the day before the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, but only to the extent 8 that such regulations are not in conflict with section 9 10404A of the Animal Health Protection Act (as added 10 by section 1). 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6921.IH H6921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS