December 13th, 2016 | by Jan Potucek

Legislation

There is no doubt that since the New Year, trade with African Grey Parrots will be more limited than it used to be in the past. In relation to reclassification of this species from CITES Appendix II to CITES Appendix I, all owners of African Grey Parrots in the Czech Republic will need to apply for exemption in case they decide to sell it. This news is not any surprise and it has been expected as the same regulation goes also for all other CITES I species. However, only breeders who can prove origin of the parents will receive this document. Owners of the birds with unknown origin will not be allowed to sell babies of such pairs.

„Proving the origin will be processed in accordance to effective law. The person needs to provide a document which confirms transfer of the animal from the previous owner. If the person received the bird in import from country outside of EU then needs to provide CITES permission. Own offspring can be proved by records in a „breeding book“ which should be kept by all owners of CITES II species,“ said representatives of the Czech Ministry of Environment. At the moment of registration, birds needs to have a closed ring or microchip.

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Captive parents – better chance to receive permission

For authorities, origin of the parents is the key factor to decide about issuing of exemption from ban on sale of babies. Owners who can prove that they gained their birds legally as captive bred will most likely receive the permission for sale. If origin is not proved then babies of such birds cannot be sold or they receive CITES documents with code „F“ which enables only one particular sale of that animal.

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Title photo: (c) Paul McGuire, This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.