Commission Regulation (EC) No.1332/2005 came into effect on 22 August 2005. This amends the Annexes to the EU Regulations to take account of changes to the Appendices agreed at the 13th Conference of CITES Parties in October 2004.

The following species have now been placed on Annex A, meaning that import and (re) export permits are required to allow movements outside the EU, as well as Article 10 Certificates to authorise lawful commercial use within the EU.

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea)

Lilac Crowned Amazon parrot (Amazona finschi)

Madagascar Spider Tortoise (Pyxis arachnoids)

The following species have now been placed on Annex B meaning that import and (re) export permits are required to allow movements outside the EU.

This is not a full list of all the up-listed species but is those that are most commonly seen in trade.

In addition the final version of the replacement for Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1808/2005 which implements the resolutions and decisions agreed at the 12th Conference of CITES Parties is being finalised. These Regulations will introduce some major changes, including new forms to facilitate the cross-border movement of travelling exhibitions and pet animals. It also introduces new registration schemes for traders in biological samples, dead specimens, travelling exhibitions, pets and caviar. There will also be a radical re-ordering of the Articles so that, for example, Article 30 certificates will become Article 60 certificates. The Regulations should enter into force before the end of the year, hopefully at the end of November.

The draft amendment Regulations implementing the resolutions and decisions agreed at the 13th Conference in Bangkok in October 2004 was discussed by EU Member States on 14 October 2005. The key proposed changes include clarification of what is meant by the date of acquisition, the meaning of pre-Convention, the powers to issue retrospective permits for personal imports, and the definition of artificial propagation and the circumstances under which wild-collected specimens may be traded. It also advises that caviar may only be imported in the year it is harvested and cannot be re-exported any later than 18 months after the date of the original export permit.

Taking account of further consultation and translation into all EU languages, we estimate that these Regulations will be ready by mid-2006.

We have been operating a policy where only captive bred specimens originating from what we refer to as CITES registered breeding operations have been allocated a D source code on their certificates or permits.

All other captive bred specimens have been regarded as source code C regardless of whether they have been produced by commercial breeders or hobbyists.  This is the policy adopted by some parties to the Convention outside the EU that recognise CITES Conference Resolution 12.10 on CITES registered breeding operations.  However, the EU does not recognise this Resolution and does not implement it though the EC CITES Regulations.  We have therefore been advised that the above policy is not consistent with EU Commission policy and must be discontinued.

Our New Policy

This means we must now differentiate between source code C and D specimens on a case-by-case basis.  Whilst some cases will seem obvious, we are clearly not in a position to judge whether specimens were bred with commercial intent or whether they were bred by hobbyists who subsequently decide to sell them as surplus stock.

We are not in a position to make judgements on whether specimens should be allocated source code C or D.  Applicants must therefore decide which source code is most appropriate for their particular application but where the specimen was bred with clear commercial intention you should use code D. 

In practice it makes little difference within the EU which of the two codes is allocated as both confirm genuine captive bred status to EC Regulation standards (currently set out in Article 24 to 1808/2001).  Full commercial use would be permitted for specimens of both codes.

After representations from customers we have reviewed the current policy of charging for hybrid or composite specimens (antiques made up of more than one species). Under the current policy, charges were made based on the number of species in the specimen or item.

From now on a hybrid specimen will be considered as a single species and charged accordingly. But customers do need to be aware that where a number of hybrid specimens are applied for on the same application form, to attract only one fee, they must all contain exactly components in the same order, in other words be exactly the same species.

For example:

1)         An application for 3 Gyr x Saker x Peregrine specimens would attract one fee of £5.00 or £10.00.

2)         An application for 2 Gyr x Saker falcon specimens 1 Gyr x Peregrine and a pure bred Gyr falcon would attract three fees of £5.00 or £10.00. (Total £15.00 or £30.00).

3)         An application for 2 Gyr x Saker falcon specimens and 1 Saker x Gyr falcon specimen would attract two fees £5.00 or £10.00. (Total £10.00 or £20.00).

4)         An application for a mahogany tortoiseshell and ivory box will attract one fee of £5.00 or £10.00.

Where the live specimens consist of the same components but in a different order e.g. Gyr x Peregrine or a Peregrine x Gyr, these birds will be considered different species and attract two fees.

A proposal is currently being worked up to transfer the Wildlife Licensing and Registration Service (WLRS) - which deals with CITES animal and plant licensing and bird registration - from Defra’s Global Wildlife Division (GWD) to the State Veterinary Service (SVS) (a Defra executive agency). 

This proposal has been made in light of several recent reviews of how Defra delivers its frontline services, which have concluded that the majority should be relocated out of the core Department. 

It was decided that CITES licensing and bird registration should be relocated to SVS, which already has some international animal licensing responsibilities, after extensive analysis of all the options available.  However, the aim is to keep the operation and delivery of these functions in their present location (Temple Quay House, Bristol) and with existing staff.  This will ensure that current efficient and effective delivery arrangements - and good links built up with UK CITES Scientific Authorities and enforcement bodies and with customers and stakeholders - are maintained.  It will also guarantee optimum contact between CITES licensing teams and those dealing with CITES policy, which will remain in core Defra. 

Defra (GWD) will also remain the designated CITES Management Authority for the UK, with primary responsibility for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 (applying CITES in the EU) and for communication with the European Commission on CITES matters.  SVS will be designated (under Article 13 of the Regulation) as an additional management authority for the purpose of providing the CITES licensing service in the UK. 

This proposal is now being taken forward in consultation with SVS.  The transfer of functions is planned to be take place by April 2006, and will be achieved with minimum disruption to all who use and supply the service - in fact the aim will be for there to be no discernable change at all in the way the service is delivered after it transfers to SVS.

As we said in our last edition, our scientific advisors the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), have published their new proposals for species to be listed on Schedule 4 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

At the time of writing we are looking at the bird registration process once again and if we decide to consider any changes we will consult on these at the same time as we look at the species recommendations.  There will be a full public consultation in due course.

On 21 July 2005, The Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005 No. 1674) came into force. These can be viewed at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051674.htm. This amended regulation increases the penalties for offences such as illegal sale and purchase of Annex A specimens from three to six months imprisonment on summary conviction in a Magistrates Court, and from two to five years on conviction if tried in a Crown Court.  The new penalties apply throughout the UK.

The increase in the maximum penalty to five years has the effect of making those offences 'arrestable' in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Parallel arrest provisions were introduced at the same time in Scotland via paragraph 3 of The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 10 and Saving Provisions) Order 2005 (SI 2005 No. 1817). In Scotland, a police officer may arrest without a warrant a person (a) who has committed or attempted to commit an offence under regulations made under section 2(2) of the 1972 Act for the purpose of implementing any relevant Community instrument [which includes COTES], or (b) whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to have committed or to have attempted to commit such an offence.

We have been getting a number of queries from tortoise keepers wanting to ‘register’ their pets with us.

This issue is clearly causing some confusion. The EU CITES Regulations are not designed as a ‘registration system’ for specimens of listed species. They are only designed to authorise the commercial use of listed specimens within the EU, and control the international trade in endangered species.

If you only wish to hold CITES listed tortoises as pets, and have no intention of using them for any commercial purpose, there is no legal requirement to have them marked with a microchip or have any form of certificate from us.

You must however be able to show that you acquired the specimen legally. This means that for Annex A listed specimen that unless you can show that you were given the specimen, by means of a gifting letter, the specimen should have an Article 10 Certificate from the breeder of its previous keeper.

As mentioned above the consequences of both the illegal sale and purchase of Annex A listed specimens can be serious.

We are always interested in feed back from out customers.  Enclosed with this bulletin is our latest customer satisfaction survey. As you will see it is focussed towards how we deal with complaints about our service.

Please take a few minutes to fill it in and return it to us using the pre-paid label.

We value customer feedback, both positive and negative and we use it to review our service and improve it. 

Within our customer satisfaction survey is a section which asks you about complaints.

We have a standard way of dealing with complaints and this is published in our leaflet “Making a Complaint”, these are available from us and we always issue a copy when you make a complaint.  

The figures below give you an idea of the type of feedback we get that we treat as “complaints”.  We intend to keep publishing these figures in future bulletins, please let us know if you would find additional information helpful.

Clerical error on permit: you may occasionally get a permit which is incorrect, please tell us.  This is something we can put right immediately. 

Complaint about policy: This type of complaint is about the law and the way it is implemented.  Changes to the law can be made, but often take a lot of negotiating!  Please do continue to put these queries through! 

Complaint about service standards: This concerns the way in which we have processed an application and can range from not meeting targets to people feeling they have been treated unfairly.

Letters from MPs:  This may be a route people wish to take where they are concerned about policy initiatives or continue to be dissatisfied with the service they have received.  Their MP may approach our Minister or write to us directly. We draft a response for the Minister to sign if he is content.  Figures for 2004 were high because of an external campaign about proposals to revise Schedule 4 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. 

Parliamentary Questions:  Sometimes MPs raise issues in the House as they are concerned about particular issues.  For example we are often asked to provide statistics on quantities of particular species imported.  You can get full details of the Parliamentary Questions asked and the responses we gave from Hansard at: www.parliament.uk/hansard

Updated versions of our Guidance Notes are available online at www.ukcites.gov.uk or from our office. These are hopefully more user friendly and contain the updated species listings mentioned above.

The UNEP-WCMC (United Nations Environmental Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre) website lists all CITES species and the controls that apply. Please visit www.unep-wcmc.org for more information and a useful species database.