H.R. 697

African Elephant Conservation and Legal Ivory Possession Act of 2015

This bill reauthorizes the African Elephant Conservation Act (AECA) through FY2020.

Ivory may be imported or exported under the AECA and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) if: (1) the raw ivory or worked ivory is solely for a museum; (2) it was lawfully importable into the United States on February 24, 2014, regardless of when it was acquired; or (3) the worked ivory was previously lawfully possessed in the United States.

The Department of the Interior may station one U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement officer in the primary U.S. diplomatic or consular post in each African country that has significant population of African elephants to assist local wildlife rangers in protecting the elephants and facilitating the apprehension of individuals who illegally kill them or assist in killing them.

Interior must certify a finding that a county is a significant transit or destination point for illegal ivory trade and report the certification to the President for the purposes of the Pelly Amendment to the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967. The Pelly Amendment authorizes the President to embargo wildlife products when the Interior certifies that a country is engaging in trade or certain actions that diminishes the effectiveness of an international agreement for the conservation of endangered or threatened species.

This bill authorizes under the AECA and ESA: (1) the possession, sale, delivery, receipt, shipment, or transportation of African elephant ivory that has been lawfully imported or crafted in the United States, and (2) the importation of a sport-hunted African elephant trophy if the country in which the elephant was taken had elephants that are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at the time the trophy was taken.