Live parrots export: CITES permits and customs controls
Greenfield Aviary Ltd, a registered captive-breeding facility in Kumasi, signs a contract to supply 120 live African grey parrots to a buyer in Qatar at US$900 each. The birds are bred at the facility, are 14 months old, and have been sexed and microchipped. The buyer has paid a 30% deposit. On 18 September 2025 the company instructs a customs agent to lodge an export declaration in ICUMS under HS 0106.32 and to book air freight from Kotoka International Airport for 20 September. The company holds a veterinary health certificate and a Department of Agriculture movement permit, but it has no CITES permit and no Wildlife Division export permit. The agent tells the company that captive-bred birds are exempt from CITES because they are not taken from the wild. The airline has asked for the export declaration and permits before accepting the birds.
1. Is the agent right that captive-bred African grey parrots are exempt from CITES? What export documents are legally required?
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CITES status. The agent is wrong. The African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) was uplisted to CITES Appendix I, so commercial international trade is prohibited except in tightly controlled circumstances. Captive-bred status does not create a general exemption. For Appendix I specimens bred in captivity for commercial purposes, the operation must be registered with the CITES Secretariat and the export requires a CITES export permit from the Wildlife Division as Management Authority, plus a certificate confirming the source. The veterinary health certificate and the Department of Agriculture movement permit are necessary but not sufficient. The correct HS code is 0106.32 for psittaciformes, not 0106.39. The airline should not accept the consignment without the CITES permit and customs export declaration.
2. What should Customs do when the consignment is presented without permits, and what liabilities arise?
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Customs action. Customs should refuse export and detain the birds in safe, humane conditions. The Wildlife Division should be notified immediately, and the matter investigated as an attempted export of CITES Appendix I specimens without permits. The company and the agent may face penalties, and the birds may be liable to forfeiture. The agent's advice is itself a risk factor: a licensed agent is expected to know that CITES permits are mandatory. The company should not be allowed to 'regularise' retrospectively by producing a permit after the attempted shipment; the permit must be valid before export and must cover the specific shipment. Welfare of the live birds is also a Customs responsibility while they are detained.
3. If the company later obtains a CITES permit, outline the remaining customs and regulatory steps and any limits.
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If permits are obtained. The company must first apply to the Wildlife Division for a CITES export permit and demonstrate that the birds come from a registered captive-breeding operation. It must meet any quota, marking, non-detriment and animal-welfare conditions. The permit must be valid, endorsed and presented with the ICUMS export declaration, commercial invoice, packing list, health certificate and airline air waybill. Customs will examine the birds against the permit, verify microchips or rings, and only then release for loading. Even with a permit, commercial trade in Appendix I specimens remains exceptional and strictly limited; a permit does not convert a prohibited trade into an ordinary export. If the conditions are not met, the export must remain blocked.