13 1 of any other regulation issued under this Act may be as2 sessed a civil penalty by the Secretary of not more than 3 $12,000 for each such violation. Any person who otherwise 4 violates any provision of this Act, or any regulation, per5 mit, or certificate issued hereunder, may be assessed a 6 civil penalty by the Secretary of not more than $500 for 7 each such violation. 8 (b) REGULATIONS.-The Secretary shall prescribe 9 regulations as are necessary and appropriate to carry out 10 the purposes of this Act. 11 (c) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.-The authority of the Sec 12 retary under this Act is in addition to and shall not affect 13 the authority of the Secretary under the Endangered Spe14 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), or diminish 15 the Secretary's authority under the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. 16 3371 et seq.). 17 (d) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to be less 18 restrictive than any other Act of Congress. 19 SEC. 9. OTHER FAUNA AND FLORA. 20 The Secretary is authorized to promulgate such regu21 lations as the Secretary may deem appropriate to imple22 ment the decisions and recommendations of the conference 23 of the parties to the Convention relating to all wildlife and 24 plants and to take stricter domestic measures that pertain 25 to the conditions for such trade. Particular attention 14 1 should be paid to those decisions and recommendations de2 signed to enhance the conservation of species in the wild 3 or that pertain to the conditions for international trade 4 or transport of species included in the appendices to the 5 Convention. 6 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 7 The Act shall take effect on the date of its enactment. 8 SEC. 11. EXOTIC BIRD CONSERVATION FUND. 9 (a) All amounts received by the United States in the 10 form of penalties, fines, or forfeiture of property collected 11 under this Act in excess of the cost of carrying out the 12 provisions of section 8(d) of this Act, donations received 13 by the Secretary, and any additional amounts appro14 priated, shall be deposited in a separate account known 15 as the Exotic Bird Conservation Fund to be used for the 16 conservation of exotic birds in their countries of origin. 17 Particular attention shall be given to the provision of both 18 funds and technical assistance to countries of origin con19 taining birds subject to trade restrictions pursuant to this 20 Act in order to assist them in the development and imple21 mentation of conservation management programs. These 22 monies shall remain available until expended. 23 (b) In cooperation with appropriate representatives of 24 industry, the conservation community, the CITES sec25 retariat, and other national and international bodies, the 15 1 Secretary shall review opportunities for a voluntary pro2 gram of labelling of birds, certification of breeding facili3 ties and retail outlets, and provision of privately organized 4 or funded technical assistance to other nations, and shall 5 report back to Congress with the results of this review 6 within two years after the date of enactment of this Act. 7 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 8 These are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec 9 retary and the Exotic Bird Conservation Fund, a total of 10 not to exceed $5,000,000 for each of the first three fiscal 11 years from the date of enactment to carry out the pur12 poses of this Act, to remain available until expended. O TESTIMONY OF J. MICHAEL HAYDEN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE AND PARKS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES, REGARDING THE EXOTIC BIRD TRADE AND RELATED LEGISLATION June 16, 1992 Mr. Chairman, I am extremely pleased to be here today, to help address the serious conservation problems facing exotic wild birds imported into the United States as pets. People have kept exotic birds as pets for thousands of years, dating back as far as the ancient Egyptians and the indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and Central America. These exotic birds have been traded internationally since at least the mid-1800s, though high volume international trade did not begin until air transport shortened shipping times. Unfortunately, today the trade in exotic birds threatens to destroy this valuable resource. In considering solutions to the conservation problems facing wild exotic birds, we need to recognize three basic elements: 1. The United States is the world's largest importer of wild exotic birds; 2. There is a lack of existing legislative authority to do what is needed to regulate the trade; and 3. Efforts until now have not led to a consensus in this country to solve this critical conservation issue. The Department is very concerned about the conservation of exotic bird species and the depletion of wild populations due to international commercial trade. The United States, as the world's largest importer, must play a leadership role in finding solutions to these problems. In the last 3 years for which we have complete statistics, 1988-1990, more than 1.4 million wild birds were imported into the United States alone. Approximately half of these were parrots and other species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Experts estimate that for every bird offered for sale in a pet store, up to five died along the way. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in one 5 year period from 1985 to 1990, 79,192 birds died while in transit to the United States, and 258,451 died while in quarantine or were refused entry because of Newcastle Disease, which is fatal to poultry. In 5 years, this comes to over 330,000 birds that either died before arrival in the United States, or within the first 30 days of quarantine. Due to the initial shock of capture and caging, mortalities between capture and export are reportedly even higher. From a species or population perspective, when birds die due to improper capture and handling, more birds will have to be taken from the wild to meet the demand. Our wildlife import |