At a United Nations meeting today in The Hague, a request by an endangered bird breeding facility in the Philippines to sell their birds on the international market was rejected.
The 171 nations that are members of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, meeting in The Hague from 3-15 June 2007, rejected the registration of Birds International Inc. following a contentious debate and a very close vote.
The government of the Philippines requested registration of Birds International Inc. so that the facility could export eight species of birds that are listed on CITES Appendix I. Generally, species on CITES Appendix I cannot be traded internationally for commercial purposes. However, there is an exemption to this general rule for species on Appendix I that are bred in captivity at a CITES registered breeding facility.
During the debate it became clear that Birds International Inc. could not prove that its breeding stock was legally acquired as is required by CITES for registration of facilities. It was reported that the facility was supplied with birds by a convicted bird smuggler based in New Zealand. The bird species it sought to export, not native to the Philippines, were: Goffin's cockatoo of Indonesia; yellow crowned Amazon parrot of Central and South America; yellow headed Amazon parrot of Central America; red crowned Amazon parrot of Mexico and the USA; hyacinth macaw of South America; blue winged macaw of South America; red fronted macaw of Bolivia; and the military macaw of Central and South America.
Bolivia and Indonesia, countries that are the only home of two of the bird species, led the opposition to the registration of the facility. The 27 countries in the European Union—where many such birds are bred in captivity and traded within the Union—fought to register the facility.
"We congratulate CITES on rejecting the registration of Birds International Inc.," said Teresa M. Telecky, Ph.D., Director of the Wildlife Trade Program of The Humane Society of the United States/Humane Society International. "Registration of this facility may have undermined CITES and facilitated smuggling of illegally captured birds and their progeny."
