S 2804119th CongressIn Committee

Strengthen Wood Products Supply Chain Act of 2025

Introduced: Sep 15, 2025

Environment & ClimateInfrastructure

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Strengthen Wood Products Supply Chain Act of 2025 would tighten and standardize how plants detained by the Secretary of the Interior (through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) are handled when there is suspicion of a violation of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981. The bill creates clear deadlines, requires transparent detention notices, and gives importers options to move detained plants under bond to storage locations outside CBP custody. It also requires the Secretary to publish regulations within 180 days to implement these procedures. Overall, the bill aims to speed up determinations on whether detained plants may enter the United States, increase transparency about testing, and provide a mechanism for off-site storage while ensuring compliance with Lacey Act requirements. The approach could reduce costly delays in the wood product supply chain while maintaining environmental and legal safeguards.

Key Points

1Fast-track detention decisions: The Secretary must, within 5 days of presenting plants on suspicion of a Lacey Act violation, either release the plants or issue a notice of detention to the importer.
2Detailed detention notices: If detained, notices must specify the reasons, the expected detention period, the tests to be performed, information that could speed disposition, and an option to transport the plants under bond to a location outside the Secretary’s custody.
3Transparency of testing: If tests are conducted, the importer must receive the test results, enough information to replicate the tests, and any accompanying documentation.
4Off-site storage with bond: Within 10 days of the detention notice, the importer may move the plants out of CBP custody if they pay storage/demurrage fees, post a bond, and comply with applicable federal regulations, provided the move does not undermine the Lacey Act’s intent.
5Final determinations and remedies: A final admissibility decision must be made within 30 days of examination; failure to decide is treated as an adverse entry/return decision. Importers may protest, and the Secretary must rule on protests within 30 days; courts may be used to seek relief. Regulations to implement these provisions must be issued within 180 days.

Impact Areas

Primary: Importers of plants and wood products, and downstream entities relying on those imports (e.g., distributors, manufacturers) who could experience faster or more predictable handling of detained plants, with new bond/off-site storage options.Secondary: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which would implement and enforce the expedited detention, testing disclosure, bond, and storage procedures, as well as the regulatory framework.Additional impacts: The bill could alter costs for importers (bonding, storage fees, potential transit to off-site facilities), affect the timeliness of supply for wood products, and influence how Lacey Act compliance is demonstrated (more explicit testing data and procedures). It also creates a formal process for protests and judicial review, potentially increasing administrative and legal avenues for challenge.Definitions in the bill clarify who is considered an "importer" and how terms like "plant" and "Secretary" are interpreted for enforcement purposes.The act is introduced in the Senate as S. 2804 during the 119th Congress and would apply to plant imports subject to the Lacey Act, with a focus on strengthening the wood products supply chain through clearer timelines and procedures.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 8, 2025