House Natural Resources Committee to Markup Lacey Act Revision Bills

The House Natural Resources Committee will mark up bills June 7, beginning at 10 a.m. including two that would revise Lacey Act provisions. Congress expanded the Lacey Act in 2008 to ban trade in products containing illegally harvested wood or plant material. The changes also require importers to document the genus, species and country of harvest of any wood or plant material contained in an imported product.

The two bills slated for markup are:

• H.R. 3210 (here) -- To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to limit the application of that Act to plants and plant products that were imported before the effective date of amendments to that Act enacted in 2008.
• H.R. 4171 (here) -- To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to repeal certain provisions relating to criminal penalties and violations of foreign laws. "Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2012"

(See ITT's Online Archives 12051045 for summary of a recent hearing on revising the Lacey Act.)