Wildlife trade operations

In order to export Australian native animal or plant specimens and/or CITES listed specimens for commercial purposes, the specimens must come from an approved program such as a wildlife trade operation.

There are different types of Wildlife trade operations. These include market testing operations, small-scale operations, developmental operations, commercial fisheries, provisional operations or existing stocks operations. Approval is for a maximum of three years.

You can read more about commercial fisheries on our fisheries page.

Wildlife trade operations are made and amended in the following ways:

• A declaration of a wildlife trade management plan is made through an instrument signed by the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and published on the Federal Register of Legislation.
• A declaration may be varied by specifying additional or new conditions, or revoking or varying existing conditions by a subsequent instrument published on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Commercial trade in live native mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians is prohibited.

Exporters sourcing specimens from an approved program must also have export permit issued by the Department.

Apply for a permit

Approved wildlife trade operations

The wildlife trade operations currently approved under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 are listed below. Conditions of approval, species covered and period of approval, are specified in the individual declarations.

For operations with expired approvals see: Archived wildlife trade operations

Approved fisheries wildlife trade operations can be found on the department’s fisheries page.

Existing stocks

Small scale

Developmental

Market testing

There are currently no wildlife trade operations under this heading