Printable Version US fish and wildlife imports must be covered by CITES certificates prior to shipment

Current US Fish and Wildlife regulations specify that all CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) documents must be properly validated or certified by the Wildlife Management Authority prior to the exportation of the species concerned. 

The CITES validation/certification issued by the authority’s inspectors confirms that the contents of a shipment matches all the information on the documentation including the quantity and species involved.  For instance, the exact quantity of specimens validated or certified may be less, but not more, than the quantity stated at the time the relevant document is issued, and the same unit of measure must be used throughout.

Shipments of species subject to CITES’ regulations arriving in the US without validated CITES certificates will not be accepted as valid imports by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities and are therefore considered unlawful.

FedEx customers should therefore take care to ensure that all such consignments should be accompanied by original validated CITES documents prior to export so as to avoid the detention and/or seizure of their shipments.

Additional details regarding the US authorities’ implementation of CITES regulations are available at: www.cites.org/eng/notif/2007/E027.pdf 

Further related information is also available at:
http://www.fws.gov/le/PubBulletins/PB091807RevisionCITES.pdf 
http://www.fws.gov/policy/library/ 

For more information about Fish and Wildlife shipments and CITES certificate, please contact FedEx Customer Service at 1800 535 800.