CITES?

[wildfowler.250]

Folks, I would appreciate being able to pick some brains on the above if that’s okay please?


So my first trip is coming up in May to South Africa - standard plains game hunt. Now, I’ve currently decided not to take any cites animals. The only one that really interests me at this stage is a lechwe but I’m also interested in the technicalities across the board really as to what cites species entails. I appreciate the outfitter would have to have a permit. Do some carry permits for an area anyway if you change your mind while there?

I know that they need an import permit to the UK. I assume this can even be done whilst waiting for the dip and pack in South Africa? As dip will be at least 3-4 months and the import permit only lasts 100 days or something?

I’ve stayed away from cities/lechwe up until this point because:

• I assume grant of a cites export permit will make my dip and pack a lot longer to leave Africa?

• There’s discussions about trophy import bans again in July. One of the amendments to a suggested a proposed ban in previous years was no cites imports to be allowed in - this may come again.

• Do you actually need a broker ? Or what is this? I do provisionally have someone dealing with the import/onward delivery from the airport. What are they brokering? I can apply for the import permit at this end myself but do have big concerns about any errors and the shipment being sent back at my expense / possibly lost..

Just can’t decide if the paperwork/technicalities for 1 species makes them not worthwhile,(different if you’d 2 or 3 cites species on a hunt). Or am I missing out doing a hunt I want to do? My taxidermist said it’s probably more sense to hunt 2 cheaper plains game or I could take eg a waterbuck.


Lastly, do TOPS require any special import paperwork? I’m hoping to try for a black wildebeest. I know the dip and pack need to sort paperwork for their export.


Thoughts and experience appreciated.


Cheers!

 

[BryceM]

Well there's CITES and then there's CITES.

I have no idea about the UK, but export to the US from Africa for critters on the CITES II list is usually simple. I've imported caracal, giraffe, baboon, and Hartmann zebra with no big deal. In fact, until I just looked it up, I didn't realize baboon and giraffe were even on the list. The taxidermist and shipping agent dealt with it on their end and the receiving agent in the US did the paperwork on this end. The overall dip/pack/crating/export process is slow, yes, but I don't think shipping with CITES animals made any noticeable difference.

Now, elephant, lion, leopard, rhino..... that's different.

 

[TheGrayRider]

The new Epermitting System for approval of CITES Import Permits here in the United States of America is easy, convenient and user-friendly. I cannot and will not comment on any process or procedure in the United Kingdom.

Last October, I simply set up an Epermitting account and completed my CITES Appendix 1 leopard trophy import application with the attached accompanying, requested documents as .pdf files and paid the $100 fee by credit card. My import permit for the leopard hide and skull (Appendix 1) trophies was approved in less than 30 days without delay.

I emailed all this information to the exporter in Botswana and also Coppersmith Logistics in Chicago. The trophies were shipped well after the Christmas holidays intentionally to prevent loss, delay, and theft. I paid the exporter in Botswana by wired funds and Coppersmith USA by personal credit card.

The salted trophies arrived in mid-February and I then drove a couple of hours to their Chicago warehouse after lunch one afternoon and personally picked them up and delivered them to my taxidermist. Very easy once you learn the process and procedure. Check out the new Epermitting System online.

Good luck and happy hunting to all, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.

 

[wildfowler.250]

Thanks guys! So it looks like annex II is a lot easier than annex I.

Have you taken an off the cuff cites species like giraffe or lechwe or has it all been very much planned well ahead of the trip starting? It seems like the more notice the better so I’m undecided to be honest!

 

[DieJager]

Hi @wildfowler.250 , I think I can help you with a lot of these questions. Since you are UK based the system is much more like the EU , still I think, then in the states.

You can look the species up on the speciesplus.net . You need the know before if you need any import permits, you can look this up on one of the UK governments sites. For example annex A species, my government does not issue any permits. So if I go on the speciesplus website and it is annex A I know enough. Annex B also needs import papers, some of the species like lion die example. Annex C none etc.

Also I used first class trophy all as an all inclusive service they can help you out with this and the delivery finished taxidermy on your doorstep.

Feel free to ask any questions. And lechwe is annex B .

Edit: UK uses the EU classification