117 S2597 IS: Healthy Dog Importation Act
U.S. Senate
2021-08-04
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
II
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2597
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 4, 2021
Mr. Grassley (for himself and Ms. Smith) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To amend the Animal Health Protection Act with respect to the importation of live dogs, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Healthy Dog Importation Act”.
2.

Importation of live dogs
(a)

In general
The Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 10404 (7 U.S.C. 8303) the following:
“10404A.

Importation of live dogs
(a)

Definitions
In this section:
(1)

Importer
The term importer means any person who transports or causes the transportation of a dog into the United States from a foreign country.
(2)

Transfer
The term transfer means a change of ownership or control of an imported dog to another person, including by sale, adoption, exchange, or donation.
(b)

Requirements
(1)

In general
Except as provided in paragraph (3), no person shall import a dog into the United States unless, as determined by the Secretary, the dog—
(A)
is in good health;
(B)
has received all necessary vaccinations and demonstrated negative test results, as required by the Secretary and evidenced by a certificate that—
(i)
is issued by a licensed veterinarian accredited by a competent veterinary authority recognized by the Secretary; and
(ii)
is endorsed by that authority in a manner representing that the veterinarian issuing the certificate was authorized to do so; and
(C)
is officially identified by a permanent method approved by the Secretary.
(2)

Transfer
Except as provided in paragraph (3), no person shall import or cause the transportation of a dog into the United States from a foreign country for the purpose of transfer unless, as determined by the Secretary, the dog—
(A)
meets the criteria described in paragraph (1);
(B)
is at least 6 months old; and
(C)
is accompanied by an import permit issued by the Secretary under this Act.
(3)

Exceptions
The Secretary, by regulation, shall provide an exception to any requirement under this Act in any case in which a dog is imported for purposes of transfer for—
(A)
research purposes;
(B)
veterinary treatment, paid for by the importer, subject to the condition that the dog—
(i)
is taken directly to a veterinary facility for treatment with appropriate quarantine until the dog meets the criteria described in paragraph (1); and
(ii)
is then exported to its country of origin; or
(C)
in the case of a dog that is less than 6 months old, lawful importation into the State of Hawaii in compliance with the regulations of the State of Hawaii and the other requirements of this section, if the dog is not transported out of the State of Hawaii for transfer at less than 6 months of age.
(c)

Implementation and Regulations
The Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall—
(1)
promulgate such regulations as the Secretaries determine to be necessary to implement and enforce this section;
(2)
(A)
facilitate electronic submission of all required documentation; and
(B)
make the information in the documentation submitted under subparagraph (A) available to the Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, as applicable, for verification on arrival of the dog in the United States; and
(3)
determine and establish such fees for the issuance of permits and the carrying out of inspections with respect to dog importation as are necessary to fund the implementation and enforcement of this section.
(d)

Rule of construction
Nothing in subsection (c)(3) limits the availability of funding made available under section 10417 to carry out this section.
(e)

Enforcement
(1)

Authority
The Secretary shall have the authority granted under section 10414 to enforce this section.
(2)

Penalties
An importer that fails to comply with this section shall—
(A)
be subject to penalties under section 10414; and
(B)
if the importer is a dealer, provide, as the Secretary may determine, at the expense of the importer, for—
(i)
the care (including appropriate veterinary care), forfeiture, quarantine, and removal from the United States of each applicable dog; and
(ii)
the return of each applicable dog to its place of export, with due care for the welfare of each applicable dog.”.
(b)

Conforming amendment
Section 18 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2148) is repealed.
3.

Transportation
(a)

Definition of transporter
Section 2 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (c)—
(A)
in paragraph (2), by striking “paragraph (1)” and inserting “subparagraph (A)”; and
(B)
by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indenting appropriately;
(2)
in each of subsections (a) through (o), by inserting a subsection heading, the text of which is comprised of the term defined in the subsection;
(3)
by redesignating subsections (a) through (o) as paragraphs (12), (15), (3), (17), (14), (6), (1), (7), (11), (2), (8), (9), (13), (4), (10), respectively, and indenting appropriately;
(4)
by inserting after paragraph (4) (as so designated) the following:
“(5)

Compensation
The term compensation means any act, consideration, or thing of value received by a person directly, including cash or noncash benefits, cost-avoidance, obtaining positive or avoiding negative publicity, an exchange of services, or maintaining a license issued under any local, State, or Federal government authority.”;
(5)
by inserting after paragraph (15) (as so designated) the following:
“(16)

Sell; resell
The term sell or resell means to transfer ownership or control of an animal, including by sale, adoption, exchange, or donation.”; and
(6)
by adding at the end the following:
“(18)

Transporter
The term transporter means any person, department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States or of any State or local government, other than a carrier or intermediate handler, who—
(A)
receives an animal from any importer, dealer, research facility, exhibitor, operator of an auction sale, or department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States or of any State or local government; and
(B)
receives compensation for moving that animal in commerce.”.
(b)

Humane standards
Section 13 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)(4)—
(A)
in the first sentence, by striking “air carriers,” and inserting “transporters, air carriers,”; and
(B)
by adding at the end the following: “The Secretary shall provide, by regulation, that each transporter, intermediate handler, or carrier receiving a certificate of veterinary inspection required under this section shall submit a copy of the certificate to the Secretary, who shall record the information in a centralized, publicly available database.”;
(2)
by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as subsections (h) and (i), respectively;
(3)
in the second subsection (f) (relating to certificates of inspection required for delivery of an animal), by striking “(f) No dogs or cats” and inserting the following:
“(g)
No dogs or cats”; and
(4)
in subsection (g) (as so redesignated)—
(A)
in the first sentence—
(i)
by inserting “importer,” before “dealer,”; and
(ii)
by inserting “, transporter,” after “intermediate handler”; and
(B)
in the second sentence—
(i)
by inserting “, the transporters,” after “the intermediate handlers”; and
(ii)
by striking “section 10 of this Act” and inserting “subsection (a)(4)”.
4.

Regulations
(a)

In general
Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate final regulations to implement the amendments made by this Act, including with respect to—
(1)
the verification on arrival in the United States of each dog being imported into the United States from a foreign country that the dog meets all applicable importation requirements; and
(2)
the denial of entry into the United States of any dog that fails to meet those requirements.
(b)

Transition period
Until the date on which final regulations are issued under subsection (a), the importation of live dogs shall be regulated in accordance with the regulations promulgated under section 18 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2148) (as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act), but only to the extent that those regulations are not in conflict with section 10404A of the Animal Health Protection Act.