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Broken Screens: National Laws on Animal Imports

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Broken Screens: National Laws on Animal Imports Broken Screen S The Regulation of Live Animal Imports in the United States DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities. PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS The Consortium for Conservation Medicine (CCM) is a collaborative institution linking Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine Center for Conservation Medicine, The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, the U.S. Geological Society National Wildlife Health Center and the Wildlife Trust. CCM strives to understand the links among human changes to the environment, the health of all species including humans, and the conservation of biodiversity. www.conservationmedicine.org The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is part of the Species Survival Commission of The World Conservation Union (IUCN). The ISSG consist of about 150 scientific and policy experts on invasive species from more than 40 countries. The ISSG aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species, and of ways to prevent, control or eradicate them. www.issg.org ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Defenders of Wildlife Principal Author: Peter T. Jenkins Co-authors: Kristen Genovese, Heidi Ruffler Additional assistance: Carroll Muffett, Stas Burgiel, Kelly Malsch, Timm Kroeger, Mark Cheater, Robert Irvin and Gabriela Chavarria Researcher: David Tucker Editor: Kate Davies Art Director: Jen Lee Consortium for Conservation Medicine Principal Contributor: Katherine F. Smith Additional assistance: Peter Daszak and Lisa Schloegel IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group Principal Contributor: Michael Browne Additional assistance: Shyama Pagad, UniServices Ltd. and Charles Copp, Environmental Information Management Additional Contributor Christina Romagosa, Ph.D. candidate, Auburn University External Reviewers Richard Blaustein, attorney and consultant, Washington, DC; Stas Burgiel, The Nature Conservancy; Maj De Poorter, IUCN; Craig Hoover, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement; David Lodge, professor, and Andrea Fowler, graduate student, University of Notre Dame; Annie Simpson, U.S. Geological Survey; John Waugh, IUCN-US; and Julie Donovan, graduate student, George Washington University. This full report, a summary of its highlights, supplemental white papers and other supporting information are available online. www.defenders.org/animalimports Funding for this report was provided by a grant from The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. Cover photos from left to right: Civet cat © Paul Hilton/EPA/Corbis; Northern snakehead fish © Reuters/Corbis; Family wearing masks to protect against SARS © Greg Baker/Associated Press © 2007 Defenders of Wildlife 1130 17th Street, N.W. | Washington, DC 20036-4604 | 202.682.9400 Broken Screen S The Regulation of Live Animal Imports in the United States Introduction and Summary RisKY BUsiNEss: LIVE ANIMal IMPORTS AND LAX LAWS .................................... 4 Inadequate Regulation ........................................................................................................................ 4 Groundbreaking Analysis ....................................................................................................................5 TAB LE OF Chapter One IDENTIFYING, QUANTIFYING AND ScrEENING ................................................. 7 CONTENTS The Wild Animal Import Trade .......................................................................................................... 7 Volume and Characteristics of the Trade ............................................................................................. 7 Imports identified by species .......................................................................................................... 7 Species identified based on “novel genera”.....................................................................................10 Quantifying legal imports .............................................................................................................10 Captive-bred Non-native Species ........................................................................................................11 Preliminary Risk Screening .................................................................................................................11 Results ............................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter Two THE ENVirONMENTal IMPacTS OF INVasiVE SPEciES ......................................15 Pathways of Animal Invasion .............................................................................................................16 Ecological Risks of Invasions .............................................................................................................16 Recent Invaders .................................................................................................................................17 Potential Invaders .............................................................................................................................. 18 The Added Risk of Global Warming .................................................................................................. 18 More Invasions Likely ....................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter Three THE HEalTH RisKS OF LIVE, WilD ANIMal IMPORTS ........................................19 Animal Imports and Emerging Infectious Diseases ............................................................................19 Disease Risks to People and Other Animals ....................................................................................... 21 Risks to humans and public health ............................................................................................... 21 Risks to domestic animals .............................................................................................................22 Risks to native wildlife ..................................................................................................................23 Potential Risks from Infectious Diseases Emerging Abroad ................................................................23 Chapter Four BROKEN ScrEENS: NaTIONal LAWS ON ANIMal IMPORTS .............................. 24 Agencies and Authorities ...................................................................................................................24 FWS and the Lacey Act ................................................................................................................24 APHIS and the Animal Health Protection Act and Plant Protection Act ......................................24 CDC and the Public Health Service Act ...................................................................................... 26 Summary of regulatory responsibilities ........................................................................................ 26 Agency Effectiveness and Potentially Risky Imports, 2000-2004 ....................................................... 27 FWS ................................................................................................................................................. 27 APHIS ..............................................................................................................................................28 CDC .................................................................................................................................................28 Through the Broken Screens ............................................................................................................. 29 Chapter Five MENDING THE ScrEENS: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REFORMING FEDEral POlicY ....................................................................................................... 30 The Need for Reforms .......................................................................................................................30 Recommendations for Reforms ......................................................................................................... 31 Invasive/injurious species policy reforms ....................................................................................... 31 Health-related policy reforms .......................................................................................................34 Other necessary reforms ............................................................................................................... 35 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................36 Appendices A. Defenders of Wildlife Online Data on Imported Species and Preliminary Risk Screening .............37 B. Preliminary Invasiveness and Disease Risk Annotations for Identified Non-native Animal Species Imported to the United States, 2000-2004 .........................................38 C. Details of Federal Laws Regulating Imports of Major Animal Groups ..........................................48 Figures 1. Top 25 Sources for Individually Counted Animals ...........................................................................11
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