Moved by
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
162: After Clause 164, insert the following new Clause—
“Appropriate consent to transplantation activities when travelling abroad
(1) Section 32 of the Human Tissue Act 2004 (prohibition of commercial dealings in human material for transplantation) is amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (6).
(2) In subsection (1), after paragraph (e) insert—
“(f) travels outside the United Kingdom to a country or part of a country where explicit consent is not required for the legal donation of controlled material which does not meet the criteria in subsection (1A)(a) to (c) and receives any controlled material, for the purpose of transplantation, without—
(i) the free, informed and specific consent of a living donor, or
(ii) the free, informed and specific consent of the donor’s next of kin, where the donor is unable to provide consent;
(g) travels outside the United Kingdom to a country or part of a country where explicit consent is required for the legal donation of controlled material and receives any controlled material for the purpose of transplantation where the material was obtained without—
(i) the free, informed and specific consent of a living donor, or
(ii) the free, informed and specific consent of the donor’s next of kin, where the donor is unable to provide consent;
(h) travels outside the United Kingdom to a country or part of a country and receives any controlled material for the purpose of transplantation for which, in exchange for the removal of controlled material—
(i) the living donor, or a third party, receives a financial gain or comparable advantage, or
(ii) where the controlled material comes from a deceased donor, a third party receives financial gain or comparable advantage.”
(3) After subsection (1) insert—
“(1A) The Secretary of State must publish an annual assessment of countries where, explicit consent is not required for the legal donation of controlled material, determining whether each of those countries—
(a) provides a formal, publicly funded scheme for opting out of deemed consent for donation of controlled material,
(b) provides an effective programme of public education to its population on the deemed consent system and the opt-out scheme which delivers a high level of public understanding of both, and
(c) is not considered to be committing Genocide by resolution of the House of Commons.
(1B) In paragraph (h) in subsection (1), the expression “financial gain or comparable advantage” does not include compensation for loss of earnings and any other justifiable expenses caused by the removal or by the related medical examinations, or compensation in case of damage which is not inherent to the removal of controlled material.
(1C) Subsection (1E) applies if—
(a) an act which forms part of an offence under subsection (1) takes place outside the United Kingdom, but
(b) the person committing the act has a close connection with the United Kingdom.
(1D) For the purposes of subsection (1C)(b), a person has a close connection with the United Kingdom if, and only if, the person was one of the following at the time the acts or omissions concerned were done or made—
(a) a British citizen;
(b) a British overseas territories citizen;
(c) a British National (Overseas);
(d) a British Overseas citizen;
(e) a person who under the British Nationality Act 1981 was a British subject;
(f) a British protected person within the meaning of that Act;
(g) an individual ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom;
(h) a body incorporated under the law of any part of the United Kingdom;
(i) a Scottish partnership.
(1E) Where this subsection applies, proceedings for the offence may be taken in any criminal court in England and Wales or Northern Ireland.”
(4) In subsection (3), after “subsection (1)” insert “(a) to (e)”.
(5) In subsection (4), after “subsection (1)” insert “(a) to (e)”.
(6) After subsection (4) insert—
“(4A) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(f) to (h) shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction—
(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months,
(ii) to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or
(iii) to both;
(b) on conviction on indictment—
(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 9 years,
(ii) to a fine, or
(iii) to both.”
(7) In section 34 of the Human Tissue Act 2004 (information about transplant operations), after subsection (2) insert—
“(2A) Regulations under subsection (1) must require specified persons to—
(a) keep patient identifiable records for all instances of UK citizens who have received transplant procedures performed outside the United Kingdom; and
(b) report instances of transplant procedures performed on UK citizens outside the United Kingdom to NHS Blood and Transplant.
(2B) Regulations under subsection (1) must require NHS Blood and Transplant to produce an annual report on instances of UK citizens receiving transplant procedures outside the United Kingdom.””
Member’s explanatory statement
The amendment is aimed at ensuring that in relation to organ tourism, there must be informed consent with no coercion or financial gain for the donation of organs. Thus prohibiting organ tourism which involves either forced organ harvesting or black market organ trafficking.