[NHCOLL-L:4947] Re: CITES advice needed

Tue Aug 31 11:24:51 EDT 2010

CITES banns the _TRADE _of Cites listed species; import of CITES species 
(e.g. zoos) and especially for scientific purpose is not restricted to 
my knowledge and the Japanese whaling industry is using this legal 
loophole well.

As far as I know the import of CITES specimens for scientific research 
is not tied to a specific ongoing research project, but to CITES 
registered institutions or persons in the respective countries (see at 
http://www.cites.org/common/reg/e_si.html). No idea regarding not listed 
institutes or non member states. To facilitate scientific research on 
CITES species, the exchange of specimens btwn CITES institutes is 
explicitly relieved by the "label" procedure.

The current CITES legislation would require that all Natural History 
Collections register their CITES specimens stored in the collections 
(which many museums don't do at the moment because of the involved time 
/ staff constraints), but anyway, the nature of these specimens is to 
serve as reference material in a collection (without current research 
projects linked to them).

The critical point is, that the specimens have been obtained and 
acquired legally (which can hardly be documented for most specimens 
stored for decades in collections anyway), and this must be documented 
in detail. As Federal or National Institution, I would abstain from any 
acquisition if in case of even slight doubts regarding the whereabouts 
or the legal status of the specimen.

Dirk

Am 31.08.2010 15:58, schrieb Mariko Kageyama:
> Hello,
>
> Thank you very much Ellen for your helpful comments. The same Japanese 
> colleague would like to ask a follow-up question to the community as 
> below. You may respond on- or off-list.
>
> -------
> I would like to ask a more general question to the natural history 
> community. Do you have a success story to share with us regarding 
> export/import of preserved museum specimens of CITES Appendix I 
> species solely for the purpose of acquiring (or exchanging, donating) 
> voucher specimens to add permanently to another ornithological or any 
> vertebrate zoological collection for future benefit to the scientific 
> community (rather than for the purpose of conducting proposed 
> scientific research, or a combination of both research and depositing 
> the study material to a permanent collection in an importing country 
> after research is completed)? Exporting country could be any 
> scientific institution in any CITES Parties (or even non-Parties, like 
> our pending case). An importer could be any scientific institution in 
> the U.S. or from any CITES Parties. I am interested to learn whether 
> "the purpose" really does not matter: if the treaty text does not 
> differentiate between "for research" vs "for collection" to issue 
> import/export permits for CITES Appendix I species, that could be a 
> strong point of argument for us in conjunction with your success 
> stories next time we speak with the Japanese government official at 
> the Management Authority. Many thanks in advance.
> ---------------
>
>
> --- On *Thu, 8/26/10, Ellen Paul /<ellen.paul at verizon.net>/* wrote:
>
>
>     From: Ellen Paul <ellen.paul at verizon.net>
>     Subject: CITES advice needed
>     To: "Mariko Kageyama" <aspeciosus at yahoo.com>
>     Cc: PERMIT-l at gold.sdsmt.edu
>     Date: Thursday, August 26, 2010, 12:47 PM
>
>     I'm not aware of/not finding any provision in the text of the
>     treaty itself that distinguishes between "for collection" vs. "for
>     research" in terms of when it is OK to accept an import from a
>     country that is not a party to CITES.
>
>     Article X says:
>
>     /Article X/
>
>     * Trade with States not Party to the Convention*
>
>     Where export or re-export is to, or import is from, a State not a
>     Party to the present Convention, comparable documentation issued
>     by the competent authorities in that State which substantially
>     conforms with the requirements of the present Convention for
>     permits and certificates may be accepted in lieu thereof by any
>     Party.
>
>
>     If the exporting country has a functioning wildlife authority, it
>     seems that this provision would cover the acceptance by the
>     importing country, regardless of the purpose, so long as the
>     purpose is covered by Appendix I, i.e., " the specimen is not to
>     be used for primarily commercial purposes and if the import will
>     be for purposes that are not detrimental to the survival of the
>     species.
>
>     There may be something more specific in the resolutions, but just
>     scanning the list quickly, I don't see anything.
>
>     Ellen Paul
>     Executive Director
>     The Ornithological Council
>     Email:ellen.paul at verizon.net  </mc/compose?to=ellen.paul at verizon.net>
>     "Providing Scientific Information about Birds"
>     http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET"  <http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET>
>                
>
>
>     On 8/26/10 1:25 PM, Mariko Kageyama wrote:
>>     Hello,
>>
>>     I am posting this for a Japanese colleague (anonymous) who works
>>     at a natural history collection institution in Japan. I hope you
>>     can give any suggestions to her.
>>
>>     ********
>>     A researcher who is affiliated with an academic institution in
>>     the country that is NOT a member of the CITES Parties intends to
>>     donate a bird specimen, specifically a skeleton of a bird species
>>     that is listed on the Appendix I. He initially approached our
>>     bird collection in Japan as a permanent repository of the voucher
>>     specimen because there is no adequate natural history collection
>>     facility at his institution or elsewhere in his country and he
>>     desires to deposit the specimen to an overseas collection
>>     institution that can provide proper care and storage. He and his
>>     colleagues legally acquired this specimen (which was captured
>>     live and kept and died in captivity during rehabilitation) and
>>     already reported this bird as the first record from an island of
>>     the country and also included information as to how they obtained
>>     it, in a paper on an international ornithological journal.
>>
>>     We consulted with the officials at the Ministry of Economy, Trade
>>     and Industry in Tokyo, which is CITES Management Authority of
>>     Japan (a member of the Parties). According to their advice, it
>>     would be difficult to approve this particular case and a CITES
>>     import permit won't be granted as long as we describe the purpose
>>     of import as "accessioning the voucher specimen to our permanent
>>     collection for future scientific use in the ornithological
>>     community."  In other words, the Management Authority "might"
>>     consider issuing an import/export permit when the specimen is
>>     meant to be used primarily for a proposed or ongoing scientific
>>     research project. This interpretation may apply only to cases in
>>     Japan, and I am curious about the situation in other countries.
>>     If we learn that it is very difficult to get an import permit for
>>     whatever reason, we will have to tell the donor to consider other
>>     museum options in a different country, that may provide an easier
>>     path for overseas transport of a CITES-listed animal from a
>>     non-CITES state. But we are still interested in getting this
>>     voucher specimen over to Japan legally, and continue discussing
>>     the matter with the Management Authority. We would greatly
>>     appreciate your advice in this matter and sharing your experience
>>     in similar circumstances.
>>     ************
>>
>>
>>     translated and posted by
>>
>>     Mariko Kageyama
>>     Collections Manager, Vertebrate Zoology
>>     University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
>>     Boulder, Colorado 80309-0265
>>     U.S.A.
>>
>>
>>
>>     _______________________________________________
>>     PERMIT-L mailing list
>>     PERMIT-L at gold.sdsmt.edu  </mc/compose?to=PERMIT-L at gold.sdsmt.edu>
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>>                  
>
>

-- 
Dirk Neumann

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