Sec. 60401. Findings
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/bill/117/hr/4521/eh/section-60401·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: The 2017 report by the think tank, Global Financial Integrity, entitled Transnational Crime and the Developing World , determined that the annual global retail value of illegal wildlife trade is between $5 billion to $23 billion, and when losses to ecosystem services are considered, the World Bank estimates the cost of environmental crime is between $1 trillion and $2 trillion, annually. Wildlife traffickers do not prefer particular species or commodities, but instead, according to the non-governmental organization, United for Wildlife, wildlife traffickers focus on the demand, availability, profit potential, and relatively low risk associated with acquiring, trading, and distributing wildlife globally.
The trafficking of wildlife affects human health because of undetected spread of zoonotic diseases, scarcity in food resources, and the environmental results of degraded ecosystems. Also, the trafficking of illicit wildlife such as pangolins from Africa, macaws from Peru, turtles from the United States, and rosewood species smuggled globally threatens our national security at home and American interests abroad because rogue organizations, including transnational criminal organizations, use the proceeds to fund illegal and violent acts throughout the world, fueling corruption and benefiting from corrupt government officials, weakening the rule of law, and distorting commercial markets.
Many of these supply chains are affected by Chinese activity, from the criminal organizations involved in the initial poaching of targeted commodities to the demand for goods produced from endangered plants and animals. The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces conducted an investigation known as Operation Apex which identified extensive overlaps among drug trafficking organizations, professional money launderers, and wildlife trafficking syndicates. A study conducted by Federal entities that examined wildlife trafficking networks determined that— more than two-thirds of persons trafficking wildlife also trafficked narcotics; 10 percent of persons trafficking wildlife were doing so to finance terrorism; and a small percentage of persons trafficking wildlife were doing so to finance the proliferation of nuclear materials.
Because wildlife trafficking is executed as part of a commodity-agnostic global enterprise, the United States and allies of the United States should focus efforts to reduce wildlife trafficking on curtailing the expansive networks that traffic wildlife and other goods and on bringing enforcement actions against persons who launder the proceeds of those persons who traffic wildlife rather than pursue specific nations, groups, or commodities. In the past decade, the illicit wildlife trade has moved online, mainly to social media platforms, creating jurisdictional and technical challenges for law enforcement.