Sec. 3. Expansion of wildlife enforcement networks
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/bill/114/hr/2494/rs/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: Wildlife enforcement networks are government-led, regionally-focused mechanisms that increase capacity and coordination efforts between law enforcement, environmental agencies, and other entities focused on countering wildlife trafficking of member countries. Currently there are active wildlife enforcement networks in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Central America. The more mature wildlife enforcement networks, such as the Southeast Asia wildlife enforcement network, have proven effective in dismantling transnational wildlife trafficking networks and bringing to justice those individuals involved in the illegal trade of endangered and threatened species.
Efforts are underway to establish additional wildlife enforcement networks in Central Africa, the Horn of Africa, South America, and Central and West Asia, among other regions. The Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and heads of other appropriate agencies should, in an effort to address regional threats to biodiversity and conservation, support strengthening existing wildlife enforcement networks and the establishment of new networks in other appropriate regions.
It is the sense of Congress that in the process of strengthening and expanding wildlife enforcement networks, the appropriate agencies should— assess the existing capacity of wildlife enforcement network member countries to gather baseline data that may be used for developing program activities for the wildlife enforcement network; establish a central secretariat within each wildlife enforcement network that will coordinate the operational mechanisms of each such network; establish a focal mechanism in each member country of a wildlife enforcement network, that includes representatives from environmental and wildlife protection agencies, law enforcement agencies, financial intelligence units, customs and border protection agencies, and the judiciary system, that will serve as a conduit to the larger wildlife enforcement network and the central secretariat; strengthen cooperation and the capacity of law enforcement agencies of the wildlife enforcement network; facilitate the sharing of intelligence and relevant case information within the agencies of a wildlife enforcement network; support the cooperation and coordination between different regional wildlife enforcement networks; incorporate and utilize expertise from international bodies and civil society organizations that have appropriate subject matter expertise; eventually create an institutionalized, sustainable, and self-sufficient platform; and recognize that lawful, well regulated hunting can contribute to sustainability and economic development, and that enforcement policies should not discourage or impede this activity.