FOOD, CONSERVATION, AND ENERGY ACT OF 2008 - from the committee of conference, submitted the followingCONFERENCE REPORT [To accompany H. R. 2419]

The above Farm Bill is 673 pages.
http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/Legislation/110/FB/Conf/CRlang.pdf

Included in it are the following sections of importance to the dog community - Section 14207: Prohibitions on Dog Fighting Ventures which can be found on pages 582 & 583. The other is Section 14210 regarding Importation of Live Dogs and can be found on page 585. We've included only the section on importation here.

In order to assist in supporting the bill, please go to the NAIA Trust website at:

http://capwiz.com/naiatrust/issues/alert/?alertid=11152626&type=CO

and make use of the CapWiz tool.

Read the AKC Farm Bill Update (5/16/08) at:

http://www.akc.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=3504

SEC. 14207. PROHIBITIONS ON DOG FIGHTING VENTURES. - pages 582 & 583

SEC. 14210 IMPORTATION OF LIVE DOGS - page 585

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Welfare Act is amended by adding after section 17 (7 U.S.C. 2147) the following:

‘‘SEC. 18. IMPORTATION OF LIVE DOGS.‘‘

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

‘‘(1) IMPORTER.—The term ‘importer’ means any person who, for purposes of resale, transports into the United States puppies from a foreign country.

‘‘(2) RESALE.—The term ‘resale’ includes any transfer of ownership or control of an imported dog of less than 6 months of age to another person, for more than de minimis consideration.

‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person shall import a dog into the United States for purposes of resale unless, as determined by the Secretary, the dog—

‘‘(A) is in good health;

‘‘(B) has received all necessary vaccinations; and

‘‘(C) is at least 6 months of age, if imported for resale.

‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, by regulation, shall provide an exception to any requirement under paragraph (1) in any case in which a dog is imported for—

‘‘(i) research purposes; or‘‘(ii) veterinary treatment.

‘‘(B) LAWFUL IMPORTATION INTO HAWAII.—Paragraph (1)(C) shall not apply to the lawful importation of a dog into the State of Hawaii from the British Isles, Australia, Guam, or New Zealand in compliance with the applicable regulations of the State of Hawaii and the other requirements of this section, if the dog is not transported out of the State of Hawaii for purposes of resale at less than 6 months of age.

‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION AND REGULATIONS.—The Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall promulgate such regulations as the Secretaries determine to be necessary to implement and enforce this section.

‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.—An importer that fails to comply with this section shall—

‘‘(1) be subject to penalties under section 19; and

‘‘(2) provide for the care (including appropriate veterinary care), forfeiture, and adoption of each applicable dog, at the expense of the importer.

’’.(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by subsection (a) takes effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

S2831 - Senator Seeks New Regulations for Charities

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.2831

A key senator wants to give the Federal Trade Commission the power to regulate nonprofit organizations including penalizing charities that say in their fund-raising appeals they are raising money for a particular cause but devote very little of it to that purpose. The effort by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, is the first stab at putting the brakes on nonprofit organizations that spend a very low percentage of the money they raise on their charitable missions.
A provision on the regulation of nonprofit groups was included in legislation to extend the Federal Trade Commission bill, S. 2831, that is being considered by the Interstate Commerce, Trade and Tourism Subcommittee, which Senator Dorgan chairs.
The provision’s impact goes beyond fund raising. It directs the Federal Trade Commission to protect consumers from “unfair and deceptive” practices by charities in the same way that it regulates such practices by businesses, says Justin Kitsch, Senator Dorgan’s communications director. Federal Trade Commission officials said in a hearing on the bill that the provision would enable them to challenge price-fixing or other anticompetitive practices by nonprofit hospitals, for example. Anthony Conway, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, says he thinks the provision is unnecessary. “There’s already plenty of oversight and regulatory-body scrutiny of nonprofits,” he says. “I don’t think adding another layer of oversight is needed, and I’m not sure it would be beneficial.”