H.R. 6513
MINKS are Superspreaders Act
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Text of the bill
This Act may be cited as the Minks In Narrowly Kept Spaces are Superspreaders Act or the MINKS are Superspreaders Act.
The Animal Welfare Act is amended by inserting after section 19 (7 U.S.C. 2149) the following:
20. Prohibition on captivity of mink
(a) In general. Except as provided in subsection (b), no person shall transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, or breed or possess, any American mink (Neovison vison) raised in captivity for fur production, whether dead or alive, or any part, product, or offspring thereof.
(b) Exception. Subsection (a) does not apply to an entity described in any of subparagraphs (A) through (E) of section 3(e)(2) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372(e)(2)).
(c) Buy-Out of mink farms
(1) In general. Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall seek to purchase privately owned mink farms for an amount determined under paragraph (2).
(2) Amount. In determining an amount to offer a mink farmer to purchase the applicable mink farm pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall take into account—
(A) the most recent 3-year average of the number of mink owned by the mink farmer; and
(B) the infrastructure value of the mink farm.