Sec. 30807. Prevention of future zoonotic spillover events
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The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, in consultation with the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the heads of other relevant departments and agencies, shall work with foreign governments, multilateral entities, intergovernmental organizations, international partners, private sector partners, and nongovernmental organizations to carry out activities supporting the following objectives, recognizing that multiple interventions will likely be necessary to make an impact, and that interventions will need to be tailored to the situation to— pursuant to section 30804, close wildlife markets and prevent associated commercial trade in live wildlife, placing a priority focus on countries with significant markets for live wildlife for human consumption, high-volume commercial trade and associated markets, trade in and across urban centers, and trade for luxury consumption or where there is no dietary necessity— through existing treaties, conventions, and agreements; by amending existing protocols or agreements; by pursuing new protocols; or by other means of international coordination; improve regulatory oversight and reduce commercial trade in live wildlife and eliminate practices identified to contribute to zoonotic spillover and emerging pathogens; prevent commercial trade in live wildlife through programs that combat wildlife trafficking and poaching, including by— providing assistance to improve law enforcement; detecting and deterring the illegal import, transit, sale, and export of wildlife; strengthening such programs to assist countries through legal reform; improving information sharing and enhancing capabilities of participating foreign governments; supporting efforts to change behavior and reduce demand for such wildlife products; leveraging United States private sector technologies and expertise to scale and enhance enforcement responses to detect and prevent such trade; and strengthening collaboration with key private sector entities in the transportation industry to prevent and report the transport of such wildlife and wildlife products; leverage strong United States bilateral relationships to support new and existing inter-Ministerial collaborations or Task Forces that can serve as regional One Health models; build local agricultural and food safety capacity by leveraging expertise from the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA)and institutions of higher education with agricultural or natural resource expertise; work through international organizations to develop a set of objective risk-based metrics that provide a cross-country comparable measure of the level of risk posed by wildlife trade and marketing and can be used to track progress nations make in reducing risks, identify where resources should be focused, and potentially leverage a peer influence effect; prevent the degradation and fragmentation of forests and other intact ecosystems to minimize interactions between wildlife and human and livestock populations that could contribute to spillover events and zoonotic disease transmission, including by providing assistance or supporting policies to, for example— conserve, protect, and restore the integrity of such ecosystems; support the rights and needs of Indigenous People and local communities and their ability to continue their effective stewardship of their traditional lands and territories; support the establishment and effective management of protected areas, prioritizing highly intact areas; and prevent activities that result in the destruction, degradation, fragmentation, or conversion of intact forests and other intact ecosystems and biodiversity strongholds, including by governments, private sector entities, and multilateral development financial institutions; offer appropriate alternative livelihood and worker training programs and enterprise development to wildlife traders, wildlife breeders, and local communities whose members are engaged in the commercial trade in live wildlife for human consumption; ensure that the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities are respected and their authority to exercise these rights is protected; strengthen global capacity for prevention, prediction, and detection of novel and existing zoonoses with pandemic potential, including the support of innovative technologies in coordination with the United States Agency for International Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other relevant departments and agencies; and support the development of One Health systems at the local, regional, national, and global levels in coordination with the United States Agency for International Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other relevant departments and agencies, particularly in emerging infectious disease hotspots, through a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach that recognizes the interconnections among people, animals, plants, and their shared environment to achieve equitable and sustainable health outcomes. The United States Government, working through the United Nations and its components, as well as international organization such as Interpol, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the World Organisation for Animal Health, and in furtherance of the policies described in section 30806, shall— collaborate with other member states, issue declarations, statements, and communiques urging countries to close wildlife markets, and prevent commercial trade in live wildlife for human consumption; and urge increased enforcement of existing laws to end wildlife trafficking. The Secretary of State shall seek to build new, and support existing, international coalitions focused on closing wildlife markets and preventing commercial trade in live wildlife for human consumption, with a focus on the following efforts: Providing assistance and advice to other governments in the adoption of legislation and regulations to close wildlife markets and associated trade over such timeframe and in such manner as to minimize the increase of wildlife trafficking and poaching. Creating economic and enforcement pressure for the immediate shut down of uncontrolled, unsanitary, or illicit wildlife markets and their supply chains to prevent their operation. Providing assistance and guidance to other governments on measures to prohibit the import, export, and domestic commercial trade in live wildlife for the purpose of human consumption. Implementing risk reduction interventions and control options to address zoonotic spillover along the supply chain for the wildlife market system. Engaging and receiving guidance from key stakeholders at the ministerial, local government, and civil society level, including Indigenous Peoples, in countries that will be impacted by this title and where wildlife markets and associated wildlife trade are the predominant source of meat or protein, in order to mitigate the impact of any international efforts on food security, nutrition, local customs, conservation methods, or cultural norms. Promoting private sector engagement and public-private partnerships with industry groups (such as the transportation industry) to address transport and movement of live wildlife to supply the commercial trade in live wildlife for human consumption. In addition to any other amounts provided for such purposes, there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary for each fiscal year from 2021 through 2030 to the United States Agency for International Development to reduce demand for consumption of wildlife from wildlife markets and support shifts to diversified alternative and sustainably produced sources of nutritious food and protein in communities that rely upon the consumption of wildlife for food security, while ensuring that existing wildlife habitat is not encroached upon or destroyed as part of this process, using a multisectoral approach and including support for demonstration programs. The Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation (DDI), the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), and the Bureau for Global Health
(GH)of the United States Agency for International Development shall, in partnership with United States and international institutions of higher education and nongovernmental organizations, co-develop approaches focused on safe, sustainable food systems that support and incentivize the replacement of terrestrial wildlife in diets, while ensuring that existing wildlife habitat is not encroached upon or destroyed as part of this process. The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall increase activities in United States Agency for International Development programs related to conserving biodiversity, combating wildlife trafficking, sustainable landscapes, global health, food security, and resilience in order to address the threats and causes of zoonotic disease outbreaks, including through— education; capacity building; strengthening human, livestock, and wildlife health monitoring systems of pathogens of zoonotic origin to support early detection and reporting of novel and known pathogens for emergence of zoonotic disease and strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration to align risk reduction approaches in consultation with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and the Secretary of Health and Human Services; improved domestic and wild animal disease monitoring and control at production and market levels; development of alternative livelihood opportunities where possible; preventing degradation and fragmentation of forests and other intact ecosystems and restoring the integrity of such ecosystems, particularly in tropical countries, to prevent the creation of new pathways for zoonotic pathogen transmission that arise from interactions among wildlife, humans, and livestock populations; minimizing interactions between domestic livestock and wild animals in markets and captive production; supporting shifts from wildlife markets to diversified, safe, affordable, and accessible alternative sources of protein and nutrition through enhanced local and national food systems while ensuring that existing wildlife habitat is not encroached upon or destroyed as part of this process; improving community health, forest management practices, and safety of livestock production in tropical landscapes, particularly in hotspots for zoonotic spillover and emerging infectious diseases; preventing degradation and fragmentation of forests and other intact ecosystems, particularly in tropical countries, to minimize interactions between wildlife, human, and livestock populations that could contribute to spillover events and zoonotic disease transmission, including by providing assistance or supporting policies to— conserve, protect, and restore the integrity of such ecosystems; and support the rights of Indigenous People and local communities and their ability to continue their effective stewardship of their intact traditional lands and territories; and supporting development and use of multi-data sourced predictive models and decisionmaking tools to identify areas of highest probability of zoonotic spillover and to determine cost-effective monitoring and mitigation approaches; and other relevant activities described in section 30806 that are within the mandate of the United States Agency for International Development. The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the Secretary of State are authorized to administer immediate relief funding to stabilize protected areas and conservancies. The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, in collaboration with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other Federal entities as appropriate, is authorized to hire additional personnel— to undertake programs aimed at reducing the risks of endemic and emerging infectious diseases and exposure to antimicrobial resistant pathogens; to provide administrative support and resources to ensure effective and efficient coordination of funding opportunities and sharing of expertise from relevant United States Agency for International Development bureaus and programs, including emerging pandemic threats; to award funding to on-the-ground projects; to provide project oversight to ensure accountability and transparency in all phases of the award process; and to undertake additional activities under this title. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until 2030, the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report— describing— the actions taken pursuant to this title, including through the application of findings and recommendations generated from the study required by section 30803 and the provision of United States technical assistance; the impact and effectiveness of international cooperation on shutting down wildlife markets; the impact and effectiveness of international cooperation on disrupting, deterring, and ultimately ending wildlife trafficking; and the impact and effectiveness of international cooperation on preventing the import, export, and domestic commercial trade in live wildlife for the purpose of human use as food or medicine, while accounting for the differentiated needs of vulnerable populations who depend upon such wildlife as a predominant source of meat or protein; and identifying— foreign countries that continue to enable the operation of wildlife markets as defined by this title and the associated trade of wildlife products for human use as food or medicine that feeds such markets; foreign governments, networks, or individuals who aid and abet or otherwise facilitate illicit wildlife trafficking; and recommendations for incentivizing or enforcing compliance with laws and policies to close wildlife markets pursuant to section 30804 and uncontrolled, unsanitary, or illicit wildlife markets and end the associated commercial trade in live wildlife for human use as food or medicine, which may include visa restrictions and other diplomatic or economic tools. The report required under this paragraph shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report— describing the actions taken pursuant to this title; describing the impact and effectiveness of key strategies for reducing demand for consumption of such wildlife and associated wildlife markets; summarizing additional personnel hired with funding authorized under this title, including the number hired in each bureau; and describing partnerships developed with other institutions of higher learning and nongovernmental organizations.