Wild Bird Conservation Act (WBCA) of 1992; Petition for a Moratorium on Imports of Wild Birds From Guyana Into the United States

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Wild Bird Conservation Act (WBCA) of 1992; Petition for a

Moratorium on Imports of Wild Birds From Guyana Into the United States

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of petition receipt.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the

receipt of a petition to impose a moratorium on the imports of wild

birds from Guyana into the United States under the Wild Bird

Conservation Act of 1992. The petition has been found to present

sufficient information indicating that imposing a moratorium on the

imports of wild birds from Guyana may be warranted under the WBCA, and

that the trade in wild birds from Guyana may be detrimental to species'

survival. Through the issuance of this notice, the Service requests

additional data, comments, and suggestions from the public, other

concerned governmental agencies, the scientific community, industry, or

any other interested party concerning trade in, and the status of, wild

bird species in Guyana.

DATES: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will consider comments

and information received by September 13, 1994 in making a final

decision on this petition.

ADDRESSES: Comments and information should be sent to: Director, U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, c/o Mr. Marshall P. Jones, Chief, Office of

Management Authority, 4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Room 420 C, Arlington VA

22203.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Susan S. Lieberman, Office of

Management Authority, at the above address, telephone (703) 358-2093.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 23, 1992, the Wild Bird

Conservation Act (WBCA) was signed into law. The purposes of the WBCA

include promoting the conservation of exotic birds by: ensuring that

all imports into the United States of species of exotic birds are

biologically sustainable and not detrimental to the species; ensuring

that imported birds are not subject to inhumane treatment; and

assisting wild bird conservation and management programs in countries

of origin.

Pursuant to Section 108(a)(2)(B), ``Moratoria for species not

covered by Convention'' of the WBCA, the Secretary of the Interior

(Secretary) is authorized to establish a moratorium on the importation

of all species of exotic birds from a particular country, if the

Secretary determines that:

1. The country has not developed and implemented a management

program for exotic birds in trade generally, that ensures both the

conservation and the humane treatment of exotic birds during capture,

transport, and maintenance; and

2. The moratorium or quota is necessary for the conservation of the

species or is otherwise consistent with the purpose of the WBCA.

This notice is based on various documents, including published and

unpublished studies, and agency documents. These documents are on file

in the Service's Office of Management Authority, and are available on

request.

On August 30, 1993, the Animal Welfare Institute, Defenders of

Wildlife, and the Environmental Investigation Agency submitted a

petition (AWI petition) to the Department of the Interior requesting

that the Secretary impose a moratorium on the import of wild exotic

birds from Guyana under the WBCA.

Guyana is slightly smaller in size than the state of Idaho,

measuring 214,970 km\2\ and 63% of this acreage is forest habitat. Its

rainforests contain much biodiversity and an abundance of wildlife,

although the number of bird species found in Guyana is presently

unknown (WCMC 1992). Guyana has been one of the major exporters of

neotropical birds (Mulliken et al. 1992).

The majority of birds exported from Guyana have been psittacines,

including Amazon parrots, macaws, and a variety of conures and

parakeets. Between 1983 and 1989, 172,557 specimens of 31 species of

wild-caught psittacines were exported from Guyana (Edwards 1992). Due

to mortalities in capture, holding, and transport, far more were

removed from the wild during the same period.

The European Community (EC) banned imports from Guyana in 1986 and

in response, Guyana imposed a nine-month suspension of exports in 1986-

87. Guyana reopened bird exports in 1987 and instituted an export quota

system, although that quota system was not based on scientific

analyses. The number of birds exported in 1988 was 19,641 and in 1989

was 15,325 (Edwards 1992). In May of 1993, Guyana temporarily suspended

the export of wildlife, including birds until further notice. That

trade suspension is still in effect.

The capture and trade of wild birds in Guyana is regulated by the

Wildlife Services Division, Department of Crops and Livestock, Ministry

of Agriculture, which serves as the Convention on International Trade

in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Management

Authority for Guyana. Within this Division, the day-to-day

administration is the responsibility of the Assistant Chief Crops and

Livestock Officer who serves as head of the Wildlife Services Division.

The National Research Council of Guyana is the designated CITES

Scientific Authority, although it has been inactive and has made no

recommendations in the establishment of wildlife trade quotas (Edwards

1992). The Service is not aware of any scientific research having been

carried out by or in conjunction with the National Research Council of

Guyana.

The Wild Birds Protection Act of 1919, as amended in 1969, is the

only Guyana law specific to wildlife (Edwards 1992). In 1977, Guyana

became a signatory to CITES, and the Wildlife Services Division

presently operates under an `Administrative Agreement' with the Senior

Minister of Agriculture to implement CITES. Actions taken by the

Division, including the issuance or termination of export licenses,

assignment of quotas, and establishment of export levies are all

undertaken within the framework of this Administrative Agreement

(Edwards 1992). Information available to the Service does not indicate

that Guyana has comprehensive CITES-implementing legislation.

The export of wild birds from Guyana is regulated by a system of

quotas. This system was established in 1987 in response to the 1986 EC

ban on wildlife imports from Guyana. The EC initiated that ban on the

grounds that Guyana lacked a proper management program for psittacine

exports. The EC lifted the import ban following implementation of the

1987 quota system.

The Wildlife Services Division of Guyana assigns quotas for each

species at levels below those which they believe may threaten wild

populations (Edwards 1992). Following the assignment of species'

quotas, the Wildlife Services Division establishes individual quotas

for each exporter. In the absence of any population surveys or

scientific data, export quotas are calculated on the basis of

exporters' previous trade levels (Edwards 1992). The Division has

reduced or eliminated the quota for certain species upon advice from

the CITES Secretariat. The species quotas have remained unchanged since

1990.

The government of Guyana has not undertaken any field surveys of

wild bird species in trade (Edwards 1992) nor is the Service aware of

any demographic studies of wild bird populations being undertaken. In

the absence of such studies, there is insufficient scientific

information on which to base the sustainable management of wild bird

populations in Guyana and to determine that such trade is not

detrimental to the species. Lastly, export quotas that do not

incorporate capture quotas make no provision for mortalities during

capture, transport, and maintenance, with further potential detriment

to species in the wild.

The AWI petition claimed that export quotas for macaws and Amazon

parrots were exceedingly high in the absence of scientific information.

These are K-selected species which are long-lived, have delayed sexual

maturity, and exhibit low reproductive rates in the wild. Guyana is

South and Central America's largest exporter of macaws and export

quotas for 1991 included 6,000 macaws of the following species: Blue

and Gold macaw (Ara ararauna), Green-winged macaw (Ara chloroptera),

Red-bellied macaw (Ara manilata), and Red-shouldered macaw (Ara

nobilis).

In addition to psittacine exports, Guyana has been one of the

largest exporters of toucans to the United States. Very little

scientific information exists on the status of wild populations of

toucans, and the Service is not aware of any scientific assessment of

the sustainable utilization of toucans.

No records on the domestic trade in Guyana of wild birds are

available (Edwards 1992) and this trade is neither monitored nor

regulated. Many species of macaws and toucans are used in subsistence

hunting by Amerindians. The effects of the domestic trade and

subsistence use on wild bird populations remain unknown.

The AWI petition provided information on the alleged illegal trade

in psittacines from Venezuela to Guyana. Desenne and Strahl (1991)

reviewed the current status of psittacine populations in Venezuela and

concluded that the smuggling of birds illegally taken in Venezuela and

exported from Guyana was a conservation threat to wild parrot

populations in Venezuela, particularly those in the Orinoco Delta

region. In October of 1991, the Sociedad Conservacionista Audubon de

Venezuela (Venezuela Audubon Conservation Society) expressed its

concern to the CITES Secretariat on the illegal trade in birds from

Venezuela and cited recent law enforcement seizures of illegal birds by

the Venezuelan Fish and Wildlife Service and National Guard in the

Orinoco Delta.

There appear to be no measures to ensure the humane treatment of

wild birds during capture, transport and maintenance in Guyana, in

spite of relevant CITES requirements. The AWI petition provided

unpublished data extracted from analyses of U.S. Department of

Agriculture Quarantine Forms which show that transport mortality for

Guyanese birds is relatively high.

After a review of the petition and other information available to

it, the Service concludes that imposing a moratorium on the imports of

wild birds from Guyana may be warranted under the WBCA, and that the

trade in wild birds from Guyana may be detrimental to species'

survival. The information available indicates that Guyana has been

unable to implement a management program for wild birds in trade that

ensures both the conservation of the species and the humane treatment

of birds during capture, trade and maintenance.

On November 16, 1993, the Service published a final rule (in 50 CFR

Part 15) in the Federal Register (58 FR 60524), that established the

prohibitions and requirements of the WBCA, and permit issuance

procedures for four types of permits established by the WBCA. No CITES-

listed birds can be imported into the United States, including from

Guyana, unless they are accompanied by an import permit issued by the

Office of Management Authority of the Service, or are on an approved

list. The approved list has not yet been finalized. It will contain

exclusively captive-bred species (wherein all birds in trade are bred

in captivity), approved breeding facilities, and species with approved

management plans for wild caught birds. The Service's proposed

regulations for implementing these approvals were published in the

Federal Register, March 17, 1994 (59 FR 12784), and included criteria

for the approval of scientifically-based sustainable use management

plans, as required by the WBCA. The Service will consider all comments

and information received by May 16, 1994 in formulating a final

decision for these approvals, except for scientifically-based

sustainable use management plans for which the Service will consider

comments and information received by June 15, 1994 in formulating a

final decision.

Therefore, although the importation of CITES-listed exotic bird

species from Guyana is currently prohibited, non-CITES-listed birds can

be imported into the United States from Guyana. If, at the close of the

comment period, information received in response to this notice and

other information available in the administrative record supports

action under Sec. 108 of the WBCA, the Service may grant the petition

and propose a suspension in trade in all wild exotic birds from Guyana.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service intends that any final decision resulting from its

evaluation of this petition will be as accurate and as effective as

possible. Therefore, any comments or data from the public, other

concerned governmental agencies, the scientific or conservation

communities, trade organizations, or any other interested party

concerning any aspect of the wild bird trade in Guyana are hereby

solicited. The Service is particularly interested in receiving

information on the status and any population data on the psittacines of

Guyana, including the Ara and Amazona species.

References Cited

Desenne, P. and S. Strahl. 1991. Trade and the conservation status

of the family Psittacidae in Venezuela. Bird Conservation

International, 1:153-269.

Edwards, S. R. 1992. Wild bird trade: perceptions and management in

the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. In J. B. Thomsen, S. R. Edwards,

and T. A. Mulliken (eds.) Perceptions, Conservation and Management

of Wild Birds in Trade. Pp. 93-116. Traffic International.

Mulliken, T. A., S. R. Broad, and J. B. Thomsen. 1992. The Wild Bird

Trade--an Overview. In J. B. Thomsen, S. R. Edwards, and T. A.

Mulliken (eds.) Perceptions, Conservation and Management of Wild

Birds in Trade. Pp. 1-42. Traffic International. Cambridge, UK.

World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC). 1992. Global

biodiversity: status of the earth's living resources. Chapman and

Hall, New York.

Dated: June 1, 1994.

Bruce Blanchard,

Deputy Director.

[FR Doc. 94-14504 Filed 6-14-94; 8:45 am]

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