Sec. 70122. Identification and certification criteria
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Section 609 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1826j ) is amended— by striking subsections
(a)and (b); and by inserting before subsection
(c)the following: The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall engage with each flag, coastal, port, and market nation that exports seafood to the United States to collect information sufficient to evaluate the effectiveness of such nation’s management of fisheries and control systems to prevent illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall provide recommendations to such nations to resolve compliance gaps and improve fisheries management and control systems in order to assist such nations in preventing illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing. The Secretary shall identify and list in the report required by section 607 a nation if a fishing vessel of such nation is engaged or has, in the preceding 3 years, engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing. The Secretary shall include all nations that qualify for identification, regardless of whether the Secretary has engaged in the process described in this subsection or under subsection (a). Any of the following relevant information is sufficient to form the basis of an identification: Compliance reports. Data or information from international fishery management organizations, a foreign government, or an organization or stakeholder group. Information submitted by the public. Information submitted to the Secretary under section 402(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1881a(a) ). Import data collected by the Secretary pursuant to part 300.324 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations. Information compiled from a Federal agency, including, the Coast Guard and agencies within the Interagency Working Group on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing. The Secretary shall identify, and list in such report, a nation engaging in or endorsing illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing, including the following: Any nation that is failing, or has failed in the preceding 3-year period, to cooperate with the United States Government in providing information about such nation’s fisheries management and control systems described in subsection (a). Any nation that is violating, or has violated at any point during the preceding 3 years, conservation and management measures, including catch and other data reporting obligations and requirements, required under an international fishery management agreement. Any nation that is failing, or has failed in the preceding 3-year period, to effectively address or regulate illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing within its fleets in any areas where its vessels are fishing. Any nation that fails to discharge duties incumbent upon it under international law or practice as a flag, port, or coastal state to take action to prevent, deter, and eliminate illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing. Any nation that provides subsidies that— contribute to illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing or increased capacity and overfishing at proportionally higher rates than subsidies that promote fishery resource conservation and management; or that otherwise undermine the effectiveness of any international fishery conservation program. Any nation that has been identified as having human trafficking, including forced labor, in any part of the seafood supply chain in the most recent Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the Department of State in accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ( 22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq. ). Any nation that has been identified as producing seafood-related goods through forced labor or oppressive child labor in the most recent List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ( 22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq. ). Any nation that has been identified as at risk for human trafficking, including forced labor, in their seafood catching and processing industries in the report required in section 3563 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 ( Public Law 116–92 ). The Secretary shall issue a warning to each nation identified under this subsection. The Secretary shall make an identification under paragraph
(1)or
(2)at any time that the Secretary has sufficient information to make such identification. . Section 609(d) of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1826j(d) ) is amended to read as follows: The Secretary shall establish a procedure for certifying whether a nation identified under subsection
(b)has taken appropriate corrective action with respect to the offending activities identified under section
(b)that has led to measurable improvements in the reduction of illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing and any underlying regulatory, policy, or practice failings or gaps that may have contributed to such identification. The Secretary shall ensure that the procedure established under subparagraph
(A)provides for notice and an opportunity for comment by the identified nation. The Secretary shall, consistent with such procedure, determine and certify to the Congress not later than 90 days after the date on which the Secretary issues a final rule containing the procedure, and biennially thereafter— whether the government of each nation identified under subsection
(b)has provided documentary evidence that such nation has taken corrective action with respect to such identification; or whether the relevant international fishery management organization has taken corrective action that has ended the illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing activity by vessels of that nation. The Secretary may establish a procedure to authorize, on a shipment-by-shipment, shipper-by-shipper, or other basis the importation of fish or fish products from a fishery within a nation issued a negative certification under paragraph
(1)if the Secretary— determines the fishery has not engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing under an international fishery management agreement to which the United States is a party; determines the fishery is not identified by an international fishery management organization as participating in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing activities; and ensures that any such seafood or seafood products authorized for entry under this section are imported consistent with the reporting and the recordkeeping requirements of Seafood Import Monitoring Program described in part 300.324(b) of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). The provisions of subsections
(a)and (b)(3) and
(4)of section 101 of the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1826a(a) and (b)(3) and (4)) shall apply to any nation that, after being identified and warned under subsection
(b)has failed to take the appropriate corrective actions for which the Secretary has issued a negative certification under this subsection. The provisions of subsections
(a)and (b)(3) and
(4)of section 101 of the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1826a(a) and (b)(3) and (4)) shall not apply to any nation identified under subsection
(a)for which the Secretary has issued a positive certification under this subsection. .
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Sec. 70122
Identification and certification criteria
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