Ill STAT. 1122 PUBLIC LAW 105-42 —AUG. 15, 1997 Public Law 105-42 105th Congress An Act Aug. 15, 1997 [H.R. 408] International Dolphin Conservation Program Act. Tuna. Exports and imports. 16 USC 1361 note. 16 USC 1361 note. To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to support the International Dolphin Conservation Program in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES. (a) SHORT TITLE.— This Act may be cited as the "International Dolphin Conservation Program Act". (b) REFERENCES TO MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT. — Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.). SEC. 2. PURPOSES AND FINDINGS. (a) PURPOSES. —The purposes of this Act are— (1) to give effect to the Declaration of Panama, signed October 4, 1995, by the Grovernments of Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Spain, the United States of America, Vanuatu, and Venezuela, including the establishment of the International Dolphin Conservation Program, relating to the protection of dolphins and other species, and the conservation and management of tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean; (2) to recognize that nations fishing for tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean have achieved significant reductions in dolphin mortality associated with that fishery; and (3) to eliminate the ban on imports of tuna from those nations that are in compliance with the International Dolphin Conservation Program. (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— (1) the nations that fish for tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean have achieved significant reductions in dolphin mortality associated with the purse seine fishery from hundreds of thousands annually to fewer than 5,000 annually; (2) the provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 that impose a ban on imports from nations that fish for tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean have served as an incentive to reduce dolphin mortalities; (3) tuna canners and processors of the United States have led the canning and processing industry in promoting a dolphinsafe tuna market; and
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