The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has issued an advisory for dealing with import of Exotic live species in India and declaration of stock.
What is Exotic Live Species: Exotic live species are animal or plant species moved from their original range (location) to a new one. These species are introduced to a new location most often by people.
Advisory provisions
1.Advisory only implies on “the animals named under the Appendices I, II and III of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora”.
2. A person trying to import a live exotic animal will have to submit an application for grant of a licence to the DGFT, under the provisions of the advisory.
3. The importer will also have to attach a No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the chief wildlife warden of the state concerned along with the application.
4. For those people who have already imported exotic animals, a declaration will have to be made within six months, which wouldn’t require submissions on the provenance of the animal. However, if the declaration is made after six months, documents will have to be submitted.
Reasons for Advisory
1. The advisory has been issued to regulate the trade because the issue of zoonotic diseases is also linked to wildlife.
2. The Government will know how many such exotic animals are there in the country.
Criticism
1. Spread of invasive species as well as zoonotic diseases had not been taken care of in the advisory.
2. Only animals listed under the various appendices of CITES have been covered in this advisory. Species like sugar gliders, corn snakes species are not covered. In this context the advisory limits its scope.
Source: Down to Earth and MoEFCC (Image: Pixabay)
