The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified Rules to regulate the international trade of certain plant and animal specimens. These Rules have been made under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. 84 The Act prohibits the international trade of endangered species of wild fauna and flora, except with a valid permit or certificate. The Rules specify the conditions for granting such permits. Key features of the Rules are as follows:
Trading permit: A permit may be granted for import, export, or re-export of endangered plant and animal specimens. The Management Authority established under the Act will be responsible for granting these permits. An application must be submitted with documents such as a legal procurement certificate. An export and re-export permit will be valid for six months and an import permit will be valid for 12 months.
Survival assessment study: Before granting an import permit, the Management Authority must refer an application to the Scientific Authority for a survival assessment and to verify whether the recipient is equipped to care for the specimen. The Scientific Authority is a research institute notified by the central government. In case of an export permit, a survival assessment may be conducted for specified animals such as Asian elephants, Indian python and gibbon if no such study has been previously conducted. In both cases, the Scientific Authority must respond with advice within 30 days.
The Management Authority must accept or reject the application within 15 days of receiving the advice or within 15 days overall. The Rules prohibit export to a country which has not adopted the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Cancellation of permit: The Management Authority may cancel a permit on grounds such as: (i) potential commercial use of the specimen, (ii) inability of the recipient to care for certain species such as sea turtles, and river dolphins, and (iii) not minimising risks while handling living specimens such as striped civet, and pigmy hippopotamus.
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