New Bill Would Require Importers to Show Goods Don't Come From Illegally Deforested Land

Rep. Earl Blumenauer,D-Ore., chairman of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, want to pass a law that would require importers of certain commodities to first certify that they exercised reasonable care that the products they are buying were not produced on illegally deforested land. If the goods -- such as palm oil, soybeans, cattle, cocoa and rubber -- are coming from a country that the government designated as high-risk for illegal deforestation, importers will have to fully document their supply chains and the measures buyers took to ensure it was not produced on deforested land.

The bill, introduced in both chambers Oct. 6, is called the Fostering Overseas Rule of Law and Environmentally Sound Trade (FOREST) Act, It has seven Democratic co-sponsors in the Senate, and four Democratic co-sponsors in the House.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would be responsible for identifying the commodities that should be covered, and their Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes. The lists would be updated annually. A year and a half after the bill becomes law, CBP would have to establish a way for outside groups to submit evidence of possible violations of the law.

The legislators say the bill would build on the success of the Lacey Act. "The framework creates a whole-of-government approach, drawing on expertise from the U.S. Trade Representative, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Departments of State, Justice, the Interior, and Agriculture. The bill also creates a standing advisory committee to bring the expertise of companies and civil society into the process," the press release announcing the bill said.