H.R. 8471

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8471 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8471

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to prohibit the importation on nonhuman 
primates.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 23, 2026

Mr. Steube (for himself, Ms. Titus, Ms. Malliotakis, and Mr. Carson) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to prohibit the importation on nonhuman 
primates.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Risky Importation of 
Monkeys to Avoid Toxic Exposures Act'' or the ``PRIMATE Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION OF NONHUMAN PRIMATES.

Title III of the Tariff Act of 1930 is amended by inserting after 
section 308 (19 U.S.C. 1308) the following:

``SEC. 308A. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION OF NONHUMAN PRIMATES.

``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `AZA-accredited facility' means a facility 
accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA);
``(2) the term `nonhuman primate' means any live member of 
the taxonomic order Primates other than Homo sapiens;
``(3) the term `person' includes any individual, 
partnership, corporation, association, organization, business 
trust, government entity, or other entity subject to the 
jurisdiction of the United States;
``(4) the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of the 
Treasury; and
``(5) the term `United States' means the customs territory 
of the United States, as defined in general note 2 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
``(b) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and 
except as provided in subsection (c), it shall be unlawful for any 
person to import into the United States any nonhuman primate.
``(c) Exception.--This section shall not apply to the importation 
of a nonhuman primate--
``(1) by, and for placement with, an AZA-accredited 
facility; and
``(2) with respect to which the importer certifies that the 
nonhuman primate will not be transferred, sold, leased, or 
otherwise provided for use in experiments or testing, or for 
breeding for use in experiments or testing.
``(d) Enforcement.--U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall deny 
clearance for any shipment for importation into the United States 
containing a nonhuman primate as prohibited by subsection (b).
``(e) Penalties.--
``(1) Civil penalties.--Any person who violates any 
provision of this section or any regulation issued under this 
section may, in addition to any other civil or criminal penalty 
that may be imposed under title 18, United States Code, or any 
other provision of law, be assessed a civil penalty by the 
Secretary of not more than $50,000 for each violation of this 
section.
``(2) Forfeiture.--Any nonhuman primate imported into the 
United States contrary to the provisions of this section or any 
regulation issued under this section shall be subject to 
forfeiture to the United States.
``(f) Regulations.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall, after notice and 
opportunity for comment, issue regulations to carry out the provisions 
of this section.''.
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