Importation of Exotic Wild Birds to the United States; Implementation of the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992

Résumé

A recent district court order has declared invalid certain portions of the Fish and Wildlife Service's regulations implementing the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 (WBCA). On March 29, 1994, District Judge Oberdorfer ruled that 50 CFR 15.11(b)(2) and the final sentence of Sec. 15.11(c) [which were promulgated by the Service as part of the final rule published on November 16, 1993, 58 FR 60524], violate the language of the WBCA because those regulatory sanctions purported to exclude from the coverage of the automatic import moratorium those exotic birds listed on appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that did not originate in the country or countries that listed them in appendix III. Therefore, in keeping with the district court order, the Service announces that all exotic birds listed on CITES appendix III are covered by the automatic import moratorium of the WBCA, regardless of their country of origin. Future rule-making notices will delete the regulatory provisions that were invalidated by the court order.