H.R. 3075 — what changed

changed The Secretary of Homeland Security Commerce, acting through the Commissioner Administrator of U.S. Customs the National Oceanic and Border Protection, Atmospheric Administration, in coordination with the Secretary Commissioner of Commerce, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall, not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, develop and implement a strategy to improve the quality and verifiability of certain already collected Seafood Import Monitoring Program Message Set data elements in the Automated Commercial Environment system that prioritizes the use of enumerated data types, such as checkboxes, dropdown menus, or radio buttons, and any additional elements the Agency finds necessary, among other options, rather than open text fields, for—

Section 101(a)(2) of the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act (16 U.S.C. 1826a(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows:

“(2) Denial of port privileges—The Secretary of Homeland Security shall, in accordance with international law—

changed “(A) withhold or revoke the clearance required by section 60105 of title 46, United States Code, for any large-scale driftnet fishing vessels of a nation that receives a negative certification under sections 609(d) or 610(c) of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826j(d) or 1826k(c)), or fishing vessels of a nation that has been listed pursuant to sections 609(b) or 610(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1826j(b) or 1826k(a)) in two or more consecutive reports as described under section 607 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1826h), until a positive certification has been received; andreceived;

“(B) withhold or revoke the clearance required by section 60105 of title 46, United States Code, for fishing vessels of a nation that has been listed pursuant to sections 609(b) or 610(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1826j(b) or 1826k(a)) in two or more consecutive reports as described under section 607 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1826h); and

“(C) deny entry of that vessel to any place in the United States and to the navigable waters of the United States, except for the purposes of inspecting such vessel, conducting an investigation, or taking other appropriate enforcement action.”

“(a) Cooperation with governments

“(1) Information collection—The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall engage with each flag, coastal, port, and market nation that exports seafood to the United States to collect information sufficient to evaluate the effectiveness of such nation’s management of fisheries and control systems to prevent illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing.

“(2) Recommendations—The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall provide recommendations to such nations to resolve compliance gaps and improve fisheries management and control systems in order to assist such nations in preventing illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing.

“(b) Identification and warning

“(1) For actions of a fishing vessel—The Secretary shall identify and list in the report required by section 607 a nation if a fishing vessel of such nation is engaged or has, in the preceding 3 years, engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing. The Secretary shall include all nations that qualify for identification, regardless of whether the Secretary has engaged in the process described in this subsection or under subsection (a). Any of the following relevant information is sufficient to form the basis of an identification:

“(A) compliance reports;

“(B) data or information from international fishery management organizations, a foreign government, or an organization or stakeholder group;

“(C) information submitted by the public;

“(D) information submitted to the Secretary under section 402(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1881a(a));

“(E) import data collected by the Secretary pursuant to part 300.324 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations; and

“(F) information compiled from a Federal agency, including, the Coast Guard and agencies within the Interagency Working Group on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing.

“(2) For actions of a nation—The Secretary shall identify, and list in such report, a nation engaging in or endorsing illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing, including the following:

“(A) Any nation that is failing, or has failed in the preceding 3-year period, to cooperate with the United States government in providing information about their fisheries management and control systems described in subsection (a) of this section.

“(B) Any nation that is violating, or has violated at any point during the preceding 3 years, conservation and management measures, including catch and other data reporting obligations and requirements, required under an international fishery management agreement.

“(C) Any nation that is failing, or has failed in the preceding 3-year period, to effectively address or regulate illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing within its fleets in any areas where its vessels are fishing.

“(D) Any nation that fails to discharge duties incumbent upon it under international law or practice as a flag, port, or coastal state to take action to prevent, deter, and eliminate illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing.

“(E) Any nation that provides subsidies that—

“(i) contribute to illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing or increased capacity and overfishing at proportionally higher rates than subsidies that promote fishery resource conservation and management; or

“(ii) that otherwise undermine the effectiveness of any international fishery conservation program.

“(F) Any nation that has been identified as having human trafficking, including forced labor, in any part of the seafood supply chain in the most recent Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the Department of State in accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).

“(G) Any nation that has been identified as producing seafood-related goods through forced labor or oppressive child labor in the most recent List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).

“(H) Any nation that has been identified as at risk for human trafficking, including forced labor, in their seafood catching and processing industries in the report required in section 3563 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92).

“(3) Warning—The Secretary shall issue a warning to each nation identified under this subsection.

“(4) Timing—The Secretary shall make an identification under paragraphs (1) or (2) at any time that the Secretary has sufficient information to make such identification.”

added “(d) IUU certification procedure

“(1) Certification determination

“(A) In general—The Secretary shall establish a procedure for certifying whether a nation identified under subsection (b) has taken appropriate corrective action with respect to the offending activities identified under section (b) that has led to measurable improvements in the reduction of illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing and any underlying regulatory, policy, or practice failings or gaps that may have contributed to such identification.

“(B) Opportunity for comment—The Secretary shall ensure that the procedure established under subparagraph (A) provides for notice and an opportunity for comment by the identified nation.

“(C) Determination—The Secretary shall, consistent with such procedure, determine and certify to the Congress not later than 90 days after the date on which the Secretary issues a final rule containing the procedure, and biennially thereafter—

“(i) whether the government of each nation identified under subsection (b) has provided documentary evidence that such nation has taken corrective action with respect to such identification; or

“(ii) whether the relevant international fishery management organization has taken corrective action that has ended the illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing activity by vessels of that nation.

“(2) Alternative procedure—The Secretary may establish a procedure to authorize, on a shipment-by-shipment, shipper-by-shipper, or other basis the importation of fish or fish products from a fishery within a nation issued a negative certification under paragraph (1) if the Secretary—

“(A) determines the fishery has not engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing under an international fishery management agreement to which the United States is a party;

“(B) determines the fishery is not identified by an international fishery management organization as participating in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing activities; and

“(C) ensures that any such seafood or seafood products authorized for entry under this section are imported consistent with the reporting and the recordkeeping requirements of Seafood Import Monitoring Program described in part 300.324(b) of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation).

“(3) Effect of certification determination

“(A) Effect of negative certification—The provisions of subsections (a) and (b)(3) and (4) of section 101 of the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act (16 U.S.C. 1826a(a) and (b)(3) and (4)) shall apply to any nation that, after being identified and warned under subsection (b) has failed to take the appropriate corrective actions for which the Secretary has issued a negative certification under this subsection.

“(B) Effect of positive certification—The provisions of subsections (a) and (b)(3) and (4) of section 101 of the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act (16 U.S.C. 1826a(a) and (b)(3) and (4)) shall not apply to any nation identified under subsection (a) for which the Secretary has issued a positive certification under this subsection.”

“(a) Identification

changed “(1) The In general—The Secretary shall identify and list in the report under section 607—

“(A) a nation if—

“(i) any fishing vessel of that country is engaged, or has been engaged during the preceding 3 years in fishing activities or practices on the high sees or within the exclusive economic zone of another country, that have resulted in bycatch of a protected living marine resource; and

“(ii) the vessel’s flag state has not adopted, implemented, and enforced a regulatory program governing such fishing designed to end or reduce such bycatch that is comparable to the regulatory program of the United States; and

“(B) a nation if—

“(i) any fishing vessel of that country is engaged, or has engaged during the preceding 3 years, in fishing activities on the high sees or within the exclusive economic zone of another country that target or incidentally catch sharks; and

“(ii) the vessel’s flag state has not adopted, implemented, and enforced a regulatory program to provide for the conservation of sharks, including measures to prohibit removal of any of the fins of a shark, including the tail, before landing the shark in port that is comparable to that of the United States.

“(2) Timing—The Secretary shall make an identification under paragraph (1) at any time that the Secretary has sufficient information to make such identification.”

“(b) Consultation and negotiation—The Secretary of State, acting in conjunction with the Secretary, shall—

“(1) notify, as soon as possible, the President, nations that have been identified under subsection (a), and other nations whose vessels engage in fishing activities or practices described in subsection (a), about the provisions of this Act;

“(2) initiate discussions as soon as possible with all foreign countries which are engaged in, or a fishing vessel of which has engaged in, fishing activities described in subsection (a), for the purpose of entering into bilateral and multilateral treaties with such countries to protect such species and to address any underlying failings or gaps that may have contributed to identification under this Act;

“(3) seek agreements calling for international restrictions on fishing activities or practices described in subsection (a) through the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Committee on Fisheries, and appropriate international fishery management bodies; and

“(4) initiate the amendment of any existing international treaty for the protection and conservation of such species to which the United States is a party in order to make such treaty consistent with the purposes and policies of this section.”

“(C) ensures that any such fish or fish products authorized for entry under this section are imported consistent with the reporting and the recordkeeping requirements of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program established by part 300.324(b) of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulations).”

added “(A) While operating on the navigable waters of the United States:”

added “(B) A vessel of the United States that is more than 65 feet overall in length, while engaged in fishing, fish processing, or fish tendering operations on the navigable waters of the United States or in the United States exclusive economic zone.”

removed “(D) A fishing vessel, fish processing vessel, and fish tender vessel of more than 50 feet overall in length.”

removed “(c) Availability of data—The Secretary shall make data collected by the Coast Guard Nationwide Automatic Identification System available to the public in archived form, and to governments and government-sponsored entities upon request and approval pursuant to Commandant Instruction 5230.80 and International Telecommunications Union Recommendation ITU–R M.1371–3.”