[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8678 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8678

   To establish a global zoonotic disease task force, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 23, 2020

  Ms. Meng (for herself and Mr. Fortenberry) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish a global zoonotic disease task force, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Global Wildlife Trade Biosecurity 
Act''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States Government to--
            (1) support scalable and sustainable availability for local 
        communities of alternative animal and plant-sourced protein in 
        order to minimize human reliance on the live and fresh wildlife 
        trade;
            (2) support foreign governments to--
                    (A) transition from the sale of such wildlife for 
                human consumption in markets and restaurants to 
                alternate protein sources; and
                    (B) ban the commercial trade of such wildlife, 
                except for the meat of game species--
                            (i) traded in markets in countries with 
                        effective implementation and enforcement of 
                        scientifically based, nationally implemented 
                        policies and legislation for processing, 
                        transport, trade, marketing; and
                            (ii) sold after being slaughtered and 
                        processed under sanitary conditions; and
            (3) consider the needs of indigenous people and local 
        communities dependent on such wildlife for nutritional needs 
        and food security.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development.
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                Committee on Appropriations in the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations in the Senate.
            (3) Commercial wildlife trade.--The term ``commercial 
        wildlife trade'' means trade in wildlife can be considered as 
        commercial when its purpose is to obtain economic benefit, 
        whether in cash or otherwise, and is directed toward sale, 
        resale, exchange, or any other form of economic use or benefit.
            (4) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            (5) Live wildlife market.--The term ``live wildlife 
        market'' means a commercial market that sells, processes, or 
        slaughters live or fresh wildlife for human consumption in 
        markets or restaurants, irrespective of whether such wildlife 
        originated in the wild or in a captive situation.
            (6) One health.--The term ``One Health'' means a 
        collaborative, multi-sectoral, and trans-disciplinary approach 
        to achieving optimal health outcomes that recognizes the 
        interconnection between--
                    (A) people, wildlife, and plants; and
                    (B) the environment shared by such people, 
                wildlife, and plants.
            (7) Outbreak.--The occurrence of disease cases in excess of 
        normal expectancy.
            (8) Public health emergency.--The term ``public health 
        emergency'' means the public health emergency declared by the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to section 319 
        of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 
        31, 2020, with respect to COVID-19.
            (9) Spillover events.--The term ``spillover events'' means 
        the transmission of a pathogen from one species to another.
            (10) Task force.--The term ``Task Force'' means the Global 
        Zoonotic Disease Task Force established under section 6(a).
            (11) USAID.--The term ``USAID'' means the United States 
        Agency for International Development.
            (12) Wildlife.--The term ``wildlife'' means mammals, birds, 
        reptiles, and amphibians of wild origin, whether removed 
        directly from the wild or born or bred in captivity.
            (13) Zoonotic disease.--The term ``zoonotic disease'' means 
        any disease that is naturally transmissible between vertebrate 
        wildlife and humans.

SEC. 4. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The majority of recent emerging infectious diseases 
        have originated in wildlife.
            (2) There is a rise in zoonotic spillover events and 
        outbreaks of such diseases.
            (3) This rise in such spillover events and outbreaks 
        relates to the increased interaction between human and 
        wildlife.
            (4) There is a rise in interaction between human and 
        wildlife related to deforestation, habitat degradation, and 
        expansion into the habitat of such wildlife.
            (5) A serious risk factor for spillover events relates to 
        the collection, production, commercial trade, and sale of 
        wildlife for human consumption.
            (6) Such a risk factor is increased if it involves wildlife 
        that--
                    (A) does not ordinarily interact with humans; or
                    (B) lives under a stressful condition as such 
                condition exacerbates the shedding of zoonotic 
                pathogens.
            (7) Markets for such wildlife to be sold for human 
        consumption are found in many countries.
            (8) In some local, rural communities, such wildlife is the 
        only accessible source of high quality nutrition.
            (9) The public health emergency is an example of the human, 
        economic, and security costs of global pandemics and regional 
        epidemics of zoonotic diseases and emerging infectious 
        diseases.
            (10) The public health emergency may result in--
                    (A) trillions of dollars in damage to the economy 
                of the United States; and
                    (B) hundreds of thousands of deaths of citizens.
            (11) PREDICT and PREDICT-2, previous zoonotic disease 
        prevention programs, resulted in cooperation over 10 years with 
        more than 60 countries to strengthen zoonotic pathogen 
        surveillance and identified at least 931 novel virus species 
        from 145,000 samples of wildlife, livestock, and humans.

SEC. 5. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD LIVE AND FRESH WILDLIFE MARKETS FOR 
              HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

    The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator and 
the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, shall work 
with governments, multilateral entities, intergovernmental 
organizations, international partners, and non-governmental 
organizations--
            (1) to work through existing treaties, conventions, and 
        agreements to develop a new protocol to close live wildlife 
        markets and end commercial wildlife trade for human 
        consumption;
            (2) expand combating wildlife trafficking programs to 
        support enforcement of the closure of such markets and the end 
        of such trade by--
                    (A) providing assistance to improve law 
                enforcement;
                    (B) detecting and deterring the illegal import, 
                transit, and export of wildlife;
                    (C) strengthening such programs to assist countries 
                through legal reform; and
                    (D) improving information sharing and enhancing 
                capabilities of participating foreign governments;
            (3) reduce the demand for the human consumption of wildlife 
        by--
                    (A) supporting targeted social marketing campaigns 
                to change the behavior of wildlife consumers; and
                    (B) increasing consumer access to affordable, 
                culturally appropriate, and sustainable produced 
                alternative animal source foods, in areas where 
                wildlife is a dietary necessity;
            (4) to minimize the interaction between humans and wildlife 
        in order to prevent the degradation of intact ecosystems with 
        the goal of protecting and restoring the integrity of such 
        ecosystems by--
                    (A) supporting Indigenous People and local 
                communities to continue their effective stewardship of 
                their intact traditional territories;
                    (B) supporting establishment and effective 
                management of protected areas, prioritizing highly 
                intact areas;
                    (C) halting industrial scale degradation, 
                deforestation, and fragmentation of intact ecosystems, 
                including by private sector entities and multilateral 
                development financial institutions; and
                    (D) halting extractive industries practices that 
                encroach into nature strongholds and increase human-
                wildlife interfaces where spillover events occur and 
                can result in zoonotic disease outbreaks;
            (5) offering alternative livelihood and worker training 
        programs and enterprise development for local communities 
        previously engaged in the commercial wildlife trade for human 
        consumption; and
            (6) ensuring that the rights of Indigenous Peoples and 
        local communities, are respected and their authority to 
        exercise these rights is protected.

SEC. 6. GLOBAL ZOONOTIC DISEASE TASK FORCE.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a task force to be known 
as the ``Global Zoonotic Disease Task Force''.
    (b) Duties of Task Force.--The duties of the Task Force shall be 
to--
            (1) ensure an integrated response to the early detection, 
        prevention, preparedness, and response across the Federal 
        Government and globally to a global zoonotic disease spillover 
        or outbreak;
            (2) develop and publish, on a publicly accessible website, 
        a global biosecurity zoonotic disease plan not later than one 
        year after the date of the enactment of this Act that leverages 
        public health, wildlife health, and livestock veterinary 
        expertise to coordinate zoonotic disease surveillance 
        internationally, including support for One Health institutions 
        around the world that can prevent and provide early detection 
        of zoonotic outbreaks; and
            (3) expanding the scope of the implementation of the White 
        House's Global Health Security Strategy to more robustly 
        respond to zoonotic disease investigations and outbreaks by 
        establishing a ten-year strategy with specific Federal 
        Government international goals, priorities, and timelines for 
        action, including to--
                    (A) recommend policy actions and mechanisms in 
                developing countries to reduce the risk of zoonotic 
                disease emergence and transmission, including 
                coordinating a whole of government response to live and 
                fresh wildlife market closures and ending the global 
                trade in live and fresh wildlife for human consumption;
                    (B) identify new mandates, authorities, and 
                incentives needed to strengthen the global zoonotic 
                disease plan under paragraph (1); and
                    (C) prioritize engagement in programs that target 
                countries with threat of spillover derived from high 
                levels of human expansion into wild places for land 
                conversion and extractive industries, and where remote 
                wildlife protected areas and corridors must be 
                protected.
    (c) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The members of the task force established 
        pursuant to subsection (a) shall be composed of representatives 
        from each of the following agencies:
                    (A) One permanent Chairperson at the level of 
                Deputy Assistant Secretary or above from the following 
                agencies, to rotate every two years in an order to be 
                determined by the Administrator:
                            (i) The Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
                        Service of the Department of Agriculture.
                            (ii) The Department of Health and Human 
                        Services or the Centers for Disease Control and 
                        Prevention.
                            (iii) The Department of the Interior or the 
                        United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
                            (iv) The Department of State or the United 
                        States Agency for International Development.
                            (v) The National Security Council.
                    (B) At least 13 additional members, with at least 
                one from each of the following agencies:
                            (i) The Centers for Disease Control and 
                        Prevention.
                            (ii) The Department of Agriculture.
                            (iii) The Department of Defense.
                            (iv) The Department of State.
                            (v) The Environmental Protection Agency.
                            (vi) The National Science Foundation.
                            (vii) The National Institutes of Health.
                            (viii) The National Institute of Standards 
                        and Technology.
                            (ix) The Office of Science and Technology 
                        Policy.
                            (x) The United States Agency for 
                        International Development.
                            (xi) The United States Fish and Wildlife 
                        Service.
                            (xii) U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
                            (xiii) U.S. Immigration and Customs 
                        Enforcement.
            (2) Timing of appointments.--Appointments to the Task Force 
        shall be made not later than 30 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            (3) Terms.--
                    (A) In general.--Each member shall be appointed for 
                a term of 2 years.
                    (B) Vacancies.--Any member appointed to fill a 
                vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term for 
                which the member's predecessor was appointed shall be 
                appointed only for the remainder of that term. A member 
                may serve after the expiration of that term until a 
                successor has been appointed.
    (d) Meeting.--
            (1) Initial meeting.--The Task Force shall hold its initial 
        meeting not later than 45 days after the final appointment of 
        all members under subsection (b)(2).
            (2) Meetings.--
                    (A) In general.--The Task Force shall meet at the 
                call of the Chairperson.
                    (B) Quorum.--Eight members of the Task Force shall 
                constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold 
                hearings.
    (e) Compensation.--
            (1) Prohibition of compensation.--Except as provided in 
        paragraph (2), members of the Task Force may not receive 
        additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of their 
        service on the Task Force.
            (2) Travel expenses.--Each member shall receive travel 
        expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in 
        accordance with applicable provisions under subchapter I of 
        chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code.
    (f) Reports.--
            (1) Report to task force.--Not later than 6 months after 
        the enactment of this act and annually thereafter, the Federal 
        agencies listed in section 6(b), shall submit a report to the 
        Task Force containing a detailed statement with respect to the 
        results of any programming within their agencies that addresses 
        the goals of zoonotic disease prevention.
            (2) Report to congress.--Not later than 12 months after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the 
        Task Force shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
        committees and the National Security Advisor a report 
        containing a detailed statement of the recommendations of the 
        Council pursuant to subsection (b).
    (g) FACA.--Section 14(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act shall not apply to the Task Force. This task force shall be 
authorized for seven years after the enactment of this Act, and up to 
an additional two years at the discretion of the Task Force Chair.

SEC. 7. PREVENTING OUTBREAKS OF ZOONOTIC DISEASES.

    (a) Integrated Zoonotic Diseases Program.--There is authorized an 
integrated zoonotic diseases program within the United States Agency 
for International Development's global health security programs, led by 
the Administrator, in consultation with the Director for the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention and other relevant Federal agencies, 
to prevent spillover events, epidemics, and pandemics through the 
following activities:
            (1) Partnering with a consortium that possesses the 
        following technical capabilities:
                    (A) Multidisciplinary zoological institution with 
                experience in global health surveillance, combating 
                wildlife trafficking, and global conservation protected 
                area management.
                    (B) Institutions of higher education with 
                veterinary and public health expertise.
                    (C) Institutions with public health expertise.
            (2) Implementing programs that expand on the results of 
        USAID emerging pandemic threat outcomes from PREDICT and 
        PREDICT-2 to prioritize the following activities:
                    (A) Utilizing coordinated information and data 
                sharing platforms, including information related to 
                biosecurity threats, in ongoing and future research.
                    (B) Conducting One Health zoonotic research at 
                human-wildlife interfaces.
                    (C) Conducting One Health research into known and 
                novel zoonotic pathogen detection.
                    (D) Conducting surveillance, including biosecurity 
                surveillance, of priority and unknown zoonotic diseases 
                and the transmission of such diseases.
                    (E) Preventing spillover events of zoonotic 
                diseases.
                    (F) Investing in frontline diagnostic capability at 
                points of contact.
                    (G) Understanding global legal and illegal wildlife 
                trade routes, value chains, and the impacts of 
                biodiversity loss and land-use change on human-wildlife 
                interfaces.
                    (H) Utilizing existing One Health trained workforce 
                in developing countries to identify high risk or 
                reoccurring spillover event locations and concentrate 
                capacity and functionality at such locations.
                    (I) Continuing to train a One Health workforce in 
                developing countries to prevent and respond to disease 
                outbreaks in animals and humans, including training 
                protected area managers in disease collection 
                technology linked to existing data sharing platforms.
    (b) Termination.--The integrated zoonotic diseases program 
authorized under this section shall terminate on the date that is ten 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 8. USAID MULTISECTORAL STRATEGY FOR FOOD SECURITY, GLOBAL HEALTH, 
              BIODIVERSITY, AND REDUCING DEMAND FOR WILDLIFE FOR HUMAN 
              CONSUMPTION.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator shall develop, and publish on a 
publicly accessible website, a multisectoral strategy for food 
security, global health, and biodiversity protection and shall include 
information about zoonotic disease surveillance in the reports required 
by section 406(b) of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response 
Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020.
    (b) Multisectoral Strategy.--The Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development (USAID), through sectoral and 
regional bureaus, shall develop a multisectoral strategy to integrate 
and mitigate risks of zoonotic disease emergence and spread, food 
insecurity, biodiversity conservation, and wildlife and habitat 
destruction. The strategy shall include participation of the following:
            (1) Bureau for Africa.
            (2) Bureau for Asia.
            (3) Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment.
            (4) Bureau for Global Health.
            (5) Bureau for Latin America and the Carribean.
            (6) Bureau for Resiliency, and Food Security.
            (7) Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance 
        Bureau.
    (c) Contents.--The USAID multisectoral strategy developed pursuant 
to subsection (a) shall include--
            (1) a statement of the United States intention to 
        facilitate international cooperation to close live wildlife 
        markets and end commercial wildlife trade for human 
        consumption, while ensuring full consideration to the needs and 
        rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities that are 
        truly dependent on wildlife for their food security;
            (2) programs and objectives to change wildlife consumers' 
        behavior, attitudes and consumption decisions;
            (3) programs to increase supplies of sustainably and 
        locally produced alternative animal and plant sourced foods;
            (4) programs to protect, maintain and restore ecosystem 
        integrity;
            (5) programs to ensure that countries are sufficiently 
        prepared to detect, report, and respond to zoonotic disease 
        spillover events;
            (6) programs to prevent, prepare for, detect, report, and 
        respond to zoonotic disease spillover events; and
            (7) the identification of Landscape Leaders residing in-
        country who will coordinate strategic implementation, the 
        overseeing of Conservation Corps volunteers, and coordination 
        with donors and award recipients throughout the term of the 
        project.

SEC. 9. IMPLEMENTATION OF MULTISECTORAL STRATEGY.

    (a) Implementation.--The USAID Multi-sectoral Strategy shall be 
implemented--
            (1) through USAID bilateral programs through missions and 
        embassies and will account for half of the portfolio; and
            (2) through demonstration projects that meet the 
        requirements of section 9(b) and account for half of the 
        portfolio.
    (b) Demonstration Projects.--
            (1) Purpose.--The purpose of demonstration projects is--
                    (A) to pilot the implementation of USAID's multi-
                sectoral strategy by leveraging the international 
                commitments of the donor community;
                    (B) to stop pandemics and reduce availability of 
                and demand for fresh and live wildlife source foods;
                    (C) to establish and increase access to sustainably 
                and locally produced animal and plant source foods and 
                grain distribution to provide an alternative to the 
                growing wild meat demand in urban, suburban, and 
                exurban communities in particular; and
                    (D) to realize the greatest impact in low capacity 
                forested countries with susceptibility to zoonotic 
                spillover and spread that can lead to a pandemic.
            (2) Demonstration project country plans.--
                    (A) In general.--USAID shall lead a collaborative 
                effort in coordination with the Department of State, 
                embassies of the United States, and the International 
                Development Finance Corporation to consult with in-
                country stakeholder and participants in key forested 
                countries to develop a plan that reflects the local 
                needs and identifies measures of nutrition, yield gap 
                analysis, global health safeguards, biodiversity 
                protection, bushmeat demand reduction and consumer 
                behavior change, and market development progress, 
                within 90 days of completion of the multi-sectoral 
                strategy.
                    (B) Eligible projects.--Eligible local projects 
                include small holder backyard production of animal 
                source foods including poultry, fish, guinea pigs, and 
                insects.
                    (C) Stakeholders and participants.--Stakeholder and 
                participants in the development of the Multi-sectoral 
                country plans shall include but are not limited to--
                            (i) recipient countries;
                            (ii) donors governments;
                            (iii) multilaterals institutions;
                            (iv) conservation organizations;
                            (v) One Health Institutions;
                            (vi) agricultural extension services;
                            (vii) domestic and international 
                        institutions of higher education;
                            (viii) food security experts;
                            (ix) United States grain and animal protein 
                        production experts;
                            (x) social marketing and behavioral change 
                        experts; and
                            (xi) financial institutions and micro-
                        enterprise experts.
            (3) Change in livelihoods.--As wildlife hunting for markets 
        ends, multi-sectoral country plans shall include programs to 
        re-train individuals in fundamental components of commercial 
        animal source food production, including agriculture extension, 
        veterinary care, sales and marketing, supply chains, 
        transportation, livestock feed production, micro-enterprise, 
        and market analysis.
            (4) Location of demonstration projects.--Collaboration 
        between United States Government assistance and other donor 
        investments shall occur in five demonstration projects, at 
        least three of which shall be in Africa.
            (5) Timing.--Five demonstration projects shall be selected 
        and each shall be tested over four years from the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
    (c) Reporting.--
            (1) Agency report.--The Administrator shall annually submit 
        to the global zoonotic disease task force established pursuant 
        to section 6, the President, and the appropriate congressional 
        committees a report regarding the progress achieved and 
        challenges concerning the development of a multisectoral 
        strategy for food security, global health, biodiversity, and 
        reducing demand for wildlife for human consumption required 
        under this section. Data included in each such report shall be 
        disaggregated by country, and shall include recommendations to 
        resolve, mitigate, or otherwise address such challenges. Each 
        such report shall, to the extent possible, be made publicly 
        available.
            (2) Report to congress.--The Administrator must submit a 
        strategy within one year of enactment of this Act outlining the 
        implementation of the country plans and identifying 
        demonstration sites and criteria for pilot programs. Four years 
        after enactment USAID will be required to submit a reassessment 
        of the strategy to Congress, as well as a recommendation as to 
        whether and how to expand these programs globally.

SEC. 10. ESTABLISHMENT OF CONSERVATION CORPS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator shall establish a Conservation 
Corps to provide Americans eligible for service abroad, under 
conditions of hardship if necessary, to deliver technical and strategic 
assistance to in-country leaders of demonstration projects, 
stakeholders, and donors implementing and financing the Multi-sectoral 
Strategy to reduce demand for Wildlife for Human Consumption through 
Food Security, Global Health, and Biodiversity and related 
demonstration projects.
    (b) Persons Eligible To Serve as Volunteers.--The Administrator may 
enroll in the Conservation Corps for service abroad qualified citizens 
and nationals for short terms of service at the discretion of the 
Administrator.
    (c) Responsibilities.--The Conservation Corps volunteers will be 
responsible for--
            (1) providing training to agricultural producers to 
        encourage participants to share and pass on to other 
        agricultural producers in the home communities of the 
        participants, the information and skills obtained from the 
        training;
            (2) identifying areas for the extension of additional 
        technical resources through farmer-to-farmer exchanges; and
            (3) conducting assessments of individual projects and 
        bilateral strategies and recommend knowledge management 
        strategies toward building programs to scale and strengthening 
        projects.
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