[House Document 118-77]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




118th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - House Document 118-77
 
                        TRAFFICKING OF PANGOLINS

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                     THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

A COMMUNICATION DIRECTING THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND DEPARTMENT OF THE 
   INTERIOR TO CONTINUE THEIR ONGOING EFFORTS AND REPORT BACK ON THE 
  OUTCOME OF THE ONGOING NEGOTIATIONS AT THE CITES STANDING COMMITTEE 
MEETING TAKING PLACE IN GENEVA FROM NOVEMBER 6-10, 2023 RELATING TO THE 
  ILLEGAL TRADE OF PANGOLINS, PURSUANT TO 22 U.S.C. 1978(b); AUG. 27, 
 1954, CH. 1018, SEC. 8(b) (AS AMENDED BY PUBLIC LAW 95-376, SEC. 2); 
                             (92 STAT. 714)






[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]







  November 7, 2023.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
Committees on Foreign Affairs and Natural Resources, and ordered to be 
                                printed 
                                
                                
                             _________
                              
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
49-011                   WASHINGTON : 2023  
                                 
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
To the Congress of the United States:
    On August 24, 2023, the Secretary of the Interior certified 
under section 8 of the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967, as 
amended (the ``Pelly Amendment'') (22 U.S.C. 1978), that 
nationals of the People's Republic of China (PRC) are engaging 
in trade or taking of eight species of pangolin that diminishes 
the effectiveness of the Convention on International Trade in 
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This letter 
constitutes my notification to the Congress consistent with 
subsection (b) of the Pelly Amendment.
    Pangolins, the world's only scaly mammal, are captured and 
trafficked at a higher rate annually than rhinoceroses, 
elephants, and tigers combined. Consumer demand for pangolin 
scales for traditional medicinal practices has pushed all eight 
pangolin species, originating from across Africa and Asia, 
toward extinction. Effective January 2, 2017, all species of 
pangolin were included in CITES Appendix I, which prohibits 
international trade for primarily commercial purposes. Despite 
this prohibition, the PRC remains the largest destination 
country for pangolin scales.
    The PRC has taken some steps to curtail pangolin 
trafficking at its international ports and has uplisted 
pangolins under its Wildlife Protection Law. Yet the PRC 
maintains a system that allows for the legal commercial trade 
of pangolin scales for medicinal use from its national 
stockpiles, thereby indirectly providing commercial avenues for 
selling illegal pangolin specimens through its domestic 
pangolin market. Provincial governments within the PRC are 
allowed to issue permits to designated pharmaceutical companies 
and other entities to acquire pangolin specimens from the PRC's 
national stockpiles for medicinal use.
    According to the United Nations, pangolin seizures have 
increased tenfold since 2014; moreover, based on data collected 
between 2007 and 2018, 71 percent of seizures were destined for 
the PRC. The size of individual seizures has also increased; 
for example, in 2019 Malaysian authorities reported seizing a 
record-setting 30 tons of pangolin products. My Administration 
therefore remains concerned that, despite assurances from the 
PRC regarding its anti-trafficking efforts, demand for pangolin 
scales appears to be growing. The PRC must do more to close 
domestic markets for pangolins and pangolin specimens that 
provide cover for the illegal market. Without these actions, it 
is likely that pangolin populations will continue to decline, 
bringing the species closer to extinction.
    Since the Secretary of the Interior's certification on 
August 24, 2023, executive departments and agencies have 
outlined conservation and anti-trafficking conditions that must 
be met by the PRC to ameliorate United States concerns that the 
PRC is undermining pangolin conservation under CITES. Necessary 
actions by the PRC that would demonstrate its commitment to 
pangolin conservation and compliance with CITES directives 
include completely closing its domestic market for pangolins 
and pangolin parts, transparent accounting of domestic 
stockpiles, and fully removing pangolins and pangolin parts 
from the national list of approved medicines. The PRC has made 
some progress towards its international commitments, but given 
the complexity of the PRC's domestic pangolin market and its 
overlapping jurisdictions, more time is needed to ensure that 
the appropriate agencies from the PRC are implementing the 
necessary steps to protect pangolin species from possible 
extinction.
    That is why I have directed the Department of State and the 
Department of the Interior to continue their ongoing efforts 
and to report back to me on the outcome of the ongoing 
negotiations at the CITES Standing Committee meeting taking 
place in Geneva from November 6-10, 2023. If significant 
commitments by the PRC to implement CITES-directed measures to 
protect pangolin species have not been made by December 31, 
2023, I plan to direct certain prohibitions on the importation 
of, and impose trade measures on, certain products from the 
PRC.
    The United States will take the steps necessary to end 
illegal trade in order to save pangolins from extinction, with 
the goal of demonstrating progress by the end of this year.

                                             Joseph R. Biden, Jr.  
    The White House, November 3, 2023.

                                  [all]