H.R. 8471

119 HR 8471 IH: Preventing Risky Importation of Monkeys to Avoid Toxic Exposures Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-04-23
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  H. R. 8471  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.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Preventing Risky Importation of Monkeys to Avoid Toxic Exposures Act   or the   PRIMATE Act  .
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:
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.
 .