Wild animal and plant trade and protection regulations 2016 annual report: chapter 2

Official title: Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act 2016 Annual Report: Chapter 2

2 Wild animals and plants in trade

• 2.1 CITES permitting
  • 2.1.1 Permitting overview
  • 2.1.2 Exemptions
  • 2.1.3 Issuance and monitoring of CITES permits
• 2.2 CITES permits issued in 2016
  • 2.2.1 Export permits and re-export certificates
  • 2.2.2 Permits for multiple shipments
  • 2.1.3 Imports into Canada
• 2.3 Canada's trading partners

2.1 CITES permitting

2.1.1 Permitting overview

The effective implementation of CITES depends on international cooperation to regulate cross-border movement of listed species through a global system of permits that are verified at international borders. In Canada, CITES permits are issued pursuant to WAPPRIITA.

There are different permit requirements depending on the CITES appendix in which a species is listed.

• Appendix I species require both an import and export permit.
• Appendix II species require an export permit.
• Appendix III species require an export permit or certificate of origin.

ECCC issues all export permits and re-export certificates for non-indigenous species, as well as all import permits and other specialized CITES certificates. ECCC also issues export permits and re-export certificates for specimens of indigenous species harvested in Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island and Alberta. Fisheries and Oceans Canada issues the majority of the export permits for CITES-listed aquatic species, including fish, marine mammals and aquatic plants.

Table 1 describes the various types of CITES permits and certificates that are issued in Canada.

2.1.2 Exemptions

WAPPRIITA authorizes exemptions, in specific situations, for the import and export of CITES-listed species without permits. These exemptions are specified in the WAPTR and apply to non-commercial purposes only. Canadian threatened or endangered species listed on Schedule III of the WAPTR are not included in these exemptions and still require all the necessary CITES permits.

Four exemptions are included in the WAPTR: tourist souvenirs, personal effects, household effects and certain hunting trophies. The hunting trophy exemption applies to fresh, frozen or salted trophies of Black Bear and Sandhill Crane for American hunters returning to the United States with their trophy harvested in Canada, or for Canadian hunters returning to Canada with their trophy harvested in the United States. Further information on exemptions is available online.

2.1.3 Issuance and monitoring of CITES permits

ECCC has established service standards for WAPPRIITA permit decisions. The Department publishes its service standards for the issuance of these permits, and it tracks its performance against those standards. ECCC's goal is to provide permit decisions within these standards for at least 90% of all permit applications. The Department's performance against these standards is published online.

2.2 CITES permits issued in 2016

2.2.1 Export permits and re-export certificates

Export permits are issued for specimens (animals, plants, their parts or derivatives) of CITES-listed species that originated in Canada and are being exported from Canada for the first time. These export permits are used to track the trade in wildlife specimens originating within Canada.

Re-export certificates are used to track trade in specimens that entered Canada under the authorization of permits issued by foreign states and were then re-exported from Canada.

In 2016, CITES permitting offices in Canada issued 5345 export permits and re-export certificates.

Table 2 shows the number of export permits and re-export certificates issued in 2016 by Canadian CITES permitting offices.

^* This number includes CITES permits issued by ECCC for exports from Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Nunavut.

Export permits and re-export certificates can authorize the export of multiple specimens or species, but must list the species and their parts or derivatives. As in past years, the most common mammal species listed on export and re-export permits include the American Black Bear, Crab-eating Macaque, Bobcat, Canadian Lynx, Wolf, Mountain Lion, North American Otter, Grizzly Bear and Polar Bear. For example, Table 3 indicates the number of export permits issued in each of the past 3 calendar years for Polar Bears obtained in Canada from different harvest seasons.

* Harvest season starts in July of one year and ends in June of following year. For example, harvest season 2012–2013 starts on July 1, 2012 and finishes on June 30, 2013.

In 2016, Canada issued export permits and re-export certificates for the following purpose-of- transaction codes as defined in CITES Resolution 12.3 (totals in brackets): hunting trophies (2,730), commercial (1,030), personal use (713), biomedical research (402), scientific research (58), and other purposes (109). Figure 1 shows the percentage of distribution, by purpose-of-transaction, of export permits and re-export certificates issued in 2016.

* Other purposes include exhibitions (23), zoos (62), educational (4), breeding (4), law enforcement (4) and reintroduction in the wild (12). They each account for such a small quantity, that they are grouped and represented together.

2.2.2 Permits for multiple shipments

Export permits and re-export certificates can authorize the export of multiple specimens or species, but they must list the species and their parts or derivatives. An export permit or re-export certificate may authorize multiple shipments of specimens that have been approved by the permitting office. The permit or certificate holder is responsible for identifying the destination, specific specimens and quantities that make up each shipment. This provides a simplified procedure for permit holders who trade in specimens with very little or no impact to the conservation of species. Of the 5,345 export permits and re-export certificates listed in Table 2, 492 were for multiple shipments, authorizing 31,376 shipments. By far, the largest share of multiple shipment permits was issued to growers and distributors of American Ginseng.

In Canada, the export of a small quantity of artificially propagated American Ginseng for personal use (up to 4.5 kg for personal use) is authorized through a simplified permitting procedure using ginseng stickers. Each shipment is accompanied by a permit sticker identifying the permit number under which the multiple shipments are authorized. Individual stickers accounted for 24,736 of the 31,376 shipments for ginseng authorized in 2016.

2.2.3 Imports into Canada

Canada issued 155 import permits in 2016 for the following purpose-of-transaction codes, as defined in CITES Resolution 12.3 (totals in brackets): personal use (33), commercial (56), hunting trophies (33), scientific research (5), zoos (13), exhibitions (8) and other purposes (7).

Figure 2 indicates the distribution, by purpose-of-transaction code, of CITES import permits issued in 2016. The imports for commercial purposes consists mainly of artificially propagated plants, pre-Convention specimens (e.g., antiques containing ivory) and captive-bred animals (e.g., falcons, parrots).

* Includes breeding and propagation purposes

2.3 Canada's trading partners

Canada's major trading partners under CITES, particularly for exports, continue to be the United States, the member countries of the European Union, and the countries of East and Southeast Asia. The exports to the United States and the European Union cover a wide-range of specimens and species. In the case of Asia, particularly East and Southeast Asia, the species most commonly exported from Canada was cultivated American Ginseng, with these regions accounting for the majority of Canada's foreign market for this species.