Sponsors (2)
The bill speeds transparency and timeliness for importers—reducing indefinite detentions and improving access to review—but does so by imposing fees, bonds, and tight agency deadlines that raise costs and risk rushed or procedurally contentious enforcement.
Small importers will face limits on how long the government can hold goods—detained merchandise must be released or formally seized within 30 days—reducing indefinite detention, lost sales, and business disruption.
Small importers can obtain test results and replication details used to justify detentions, enabling quicker, better-informed challenges and reducing wrongful seizures.
Importers gain faster administrative-review rights and the ability to seek prompt judicial relief if review is delayed, giving businesses quicker access to remedies and reducing prolonged uncertainty.
Small importers must pay demurrage, storage fees, and post bonds to remove goods, increasing cash costs and financial strain—especially on small businesses.
Tight agency deadlines (5- and 30-day limits) may pressure enforcement agencies to rush complex investigations, raising the risk of errors or inadequate vetting that could harm both enforcement quality and affected businesses.
Deeming agency failure to act within 30 days as a seizure could shift litigation burdens and create procedural disputes over timing, increasing legal costs and uncertainty for importers and governments.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates specific deadlines and procedures for detention, testing, transfer, release, administrative review, and judicial claims for imported fish, wildlife, and plants.
Introduced March 18, 2025 by Rudy Yakym · Last progress March 18, 2025
Establishes new procedural timelines and rights for imported plants, fish, and wildlife that federal officers detain for inspection. The government must issue detention or release notices within 5 days, make testing results available to importers, and either release or seize detained goods within 30 days (otherwise they are deemed seized). Importers can request removal of goods to a non-U.S.-controlled location within 10 days under conditions (fees, bond, and agency finding that transfer won’t frustrate enforcement). The agency must complete administrative review within 30 days and importers may seek judicial relief when administrative deadlines are missed or seizures are upheld.