18 U.S.C. § 42 : US Code - Section 42: Importation or shipment of injurious mammals, birds, fish (including mollusks and crustacea), amphibia, and reptiles; permits, specimens for museums; regulations

Search 18 U.S.C. § 42 : US Code - Section 42: Importation or shipment of injurious mammals, birds, fish (including mollusks and crustacea), amphibia, and reptiles; permits, specimens for museums; regulations

(a)(1) The importation into the United States, any territory of
the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, or any possession of the United States, or any
shipment between the continental United States, the District of
Columbia, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any
possession of the United States, of the mongoose of the species
Herpestes auropunctatus; of the species of so-called "flying foxes"
or fruit bats of the genus Pteropus; of the zebra mussel of the
species Dreissena polymorpha; and such other species of wild
mammals, wild birds, fish (including mollusks and crustacea),
amphibians, reptiles, brown tree snakes, or the offspring or eggs
of any of the foregoing which the Secretary of the Interior may
prescribe by regulation to be injurious to human beings, to the
interests of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, or to wildlife or
the wildlife resources of the United States, is hereby prohibited.
All such prohibited mammals, birds, fish (including mollusks and
crustacea), amphibians, and reptiles, and the eggs or offspring
therefrom, shall be promptly exported or destroyed at the expense
of the importer or consignee. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to repeal or modify any provision of the Public Health
Service Act or Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Also, this
section shall not authorize any action with respect to the
importation of any plant pest as defined in the Federal Plant Pest
Act,(!1) insofar as such importation is subject to regulation under
that Act.
(2) As used in this subsection, the term "wild" relates to any
creatures that, whether or not raised in captivity, normally are
found in a wild state; and the terms "wildlife" and "wildlife
resources" include those resources that comprise wild mammals, wild
birds, fish (including mollusks and crustacea), and all other
classes of wild creatures whatsoever, and all types of aquatic and
land vegetation upon which such wildlife resources are dependent.
(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Secretary of the Interior,
when he finds that there has been a proper showing of
responsibility and continued protection of the public interest and
health, shall permit the importation for zoological, educational,
medical, and scientific purposes of any mammals, birds, fish
(including mollusks and crustacea), amphibia, and reptiles, or the
offspring or eggs thereof, where such importation would be
prohibited otherwise by or pursuant to this Act, and this Act shall
not restrict importations by Federal agencies for their own use.
(4) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the importation of
dead natural-history specimens for museums or for scientific
collections, or the importation of domesticated canaries, parrots
(including all other species of psittacine birds), or such other
cage birds as the Secretary of the Interior may designate.
(5) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of the
Interior shall enforce the provisions of this subsection, including
any regulations issued hereunder, and, if requested by the
Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Treasury may
require the furnishing of an appropriate bond when desirable to
insure compliance with such provisions.
(b) Whoever violates this section, or any regulation issued
pursuant thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not
more than six months, or both.
(c) The Secretary of the Interior within one hundred and eighty
days of the enactment of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 shall
prescribe such requirements and issue such permits as he may deem
necessary for the transportation of wild animals and birds under
humane and healthful conditions, and it shall be unlawful for any
person, including any importer, knowingly to cause or permit any
wild animal or bird to be transported to the United States, or any
Territory or district thereof, under inhumane or unhealthful
conditions or in violation of such requirements. In any criminal
prosecution for violation of this subsection and in any
administrative proceeding for the suspension of the issuance of
further permits -
(1) the condition of any vessel or conveyance, or the
enclosures in which wild animals or birds are confined therein,
upon its arrival in the United States, or any Territory or
district thereof, shall constitute relevant evidence in
determining whether the provisions of this subsection have been
violated; and
(2) the presence in such vessel or conveyance at such time of a
substantial ratio of dead, crippled, diseased, or starving wild
animals or birds shall be deemed prima facie evidence of the
violation of the provisions of this subsection.