Humane and Healthful Transport of Wild Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians to the United States

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 14

RIN 1018-AD98

Humane and Healthful Transport of Wild Mammals, Birds, Reptiles

and Amphibians to the United States

AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; withdrawal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service withdraws the June 6, 1997

proposed rule to amend 50 CFR part 14, subpart J, pertaining to the

establishment of standards for the humane and healthful transport of

live reptiles and amphibians to the United States. We promulgated this

proposed rule under the authority of the Lacey Act, as amended, enacted

on November 16, 1981. This action is being taken in part to allow for

the completion of the current revision process of the Live Animals

Regulations (LAR) of the International Air Transport Association

(IATA).

This decision was made to allow us to explore all possible

opportunities to align United States humane and healthful transport

regulations with the IATA LAR standards, which have generally been

adopted by the international community, including the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(CITES) and the European Community (EC), as their required humane

transport standards.

ADDRESSES: Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, c/o Office of

Management Authority, either by mail 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 700,

Arlington, VA 22203, or by fax (703) 358-2298, or by e-mail to

R9OMA__CITES @mail.fws.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bruce Weissgold, Office of

Management Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, telephone (703)

358-1917, fax (703) 358-2298, or e-mail Bruce__W[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the proposed rule of June 6, 1997 (62 FR

31044), we recognized three justifications for amending 50 CFR Part 14,

subpart J. First, the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (U.S.C. 42(c))

prohibit the transportation of all classes of species into the United

States under inhumane or unhealthful conditions, and require that the

United States Government promulgate regulations governing the

transportation of wildlife. We established rules for the humane and

healthful transport of wild mammals and birds to the United States on

June 17, 1992 (57 FR 27094) in 50 CFR Part 14 subpart J.

Therefore, we proposed to extend 50 CFR Part 14, subpart J to

include rules for the transport of reptiles and amphibians in order to

more fully comply with the Lacey Act, which requires the humane

transport of all animals and the promulgation of necessary regulations.

Furthermore, many reptiles and amphibians are species included in the

Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES requires that all

species listed on the CITES Appendices be packed and shipped in

accordance with the IATA LAR.

Our second justification for the proposed amendment to the rule is

the need to protect the well-being of reptiles and amphibians during

transport. The proposed amendment to 50 CFR Part 14, subpart J

responded to this problem by providing the Division of Law Enforcement

with the authority to cite shippers for failure to comply with specific

regulatory requirements even where, by chance, high mortality has not

resulted. This additional authority would help us ensure increased

compliance with humane and healthful shipping standards, and thus

reduce mortality and injury for transported reptiles and amphibians.

Finally, the proposed amendments to 50 CFR Part 14 subpart J would

enable us to process the high and increasing volume of reptiles and

amphibians entering the United States, and provide a mechanism for

adequate data capture and recording or inhumane and unhealthful

transport conditions. Specifically, the proposed regulations would

equip us with rules that address the particular biological requirements

of reptiles and amphibians, and enable us to respond better to the

problems associated with transporting these species, and to record

instances of mortality of animals in transit and/or substandard

shipping conditions.

IATA intends to convene a meeting of its Live Animals and

Perishables Board (LAPB) in Montreal, Canada, in October 1998. One

component of this meeting would be the introduction, consideration, and

debate of amendments to its LAR for reptiles and amphibians. We would

like to reevaluate our rule-making effort following the outcome of the

IATA revision process, which may include modifications to the packing

standards associated with the IATA LAR Container Requirements,

specifically regulating the shipping of live reptiles and amphibians.

After proposing amendments to 50 CFR part 14, subpart J, we

received a large number of comments from the general public, both in

writing, and verbally at public meetings in New York City (January 17,

1998) and Los Angeles (January 27, 1998). Substantial information was

received during the comment periods to warrant changes to our proposed

rule. The comments that we received covered a broad array of positions,

including biological, technical, legal, and animal welfare issues

associated with the proposed rule. Some commenters considered our

proposals harmful to live reptiles and amphibians in commerce by being

[[Page 45445]]

overly regulatory and not based on the biological requirements of the

animals. Other commenters indicated that we had favored the commercial

reptile and amphibian industry in our proposal and had not proposed

sufficiently stringent standards to ensure humane and healthful

transport conditions for these animals. We are continuing to evaluate

the comments we received to determine their applicability to our

rulemaking process, and whether they could apply to our anticipated

discussion with IATA on amending their regulations. Once the IATA

revision process is complete, we will determine whether it is

applicable to our rulemaking efforts in this area and whether another

proposed rule is warranted.

Author: The author of this notice is Bruce Weissgold (see For

Further Information Contact section).

Authority: The authority for this action is the Lacey Act, as

amended (18 U.S.C. 42(c)).

Dated: August 20, 1998.

Donald Barry,

Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

[FR Doc. 98-22889 Filed 8-21-98; 3:19 pm]

BILLING CODE 4310-55-P