Wildlife trade and conservation
This category of wildlife trade management plans is established under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the Act). To be accredited, a wildlife trade management plan must meet the requirements of subsections 303FO(3) and 303FP(3) of the Act. The plan must be in force under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory.
Commercial exports of specimens derived from a State or Territory wildlife trade management plan that has been accredited by the Commonwealth to manage native species for harvest and export will not require a Commonwealth export permit.
The management controls incorporated in the plan must be very rigorous, providing the highest levels of confidence that relevant activities are ecologically sustainable. Specific and sustainable limits on the taking of specimens must be set in the plan. Enforcement and compliance measures must be in place and effective. The plan must be based on extensive environmental assessment of impacts on target species and their habitats. On-going monitoring is required covering the taking and export of specimens under the plan, the status in the wild and the impact of activities under the plan on the habitat of species subject to the plan. Statistical reports about specimens taken under the plan must be provided to the Commonwealth and made publicly available on the Internet.
Accreditation of a wildlife management plan is made through an instrument signed by the Minister and published in the Gazette. The Minister may specify the period, the circumstances or conditions under which accreditation will occur in the declaration (subsection 303FT(4)). A declaration may be varied by specifying additional or new conditions or revoking or varying existing conditions by a subsequent instrument published in the Gazette (subsection 303FT(7)). A declaration must be revoked if the Minister is satisfied that a condition of the declaration has been contravened (subsection 303FT(9)). A declaration may be revoked at any time.
