We are constantly exporting and importing birds from all over the world, to and from various pet friendly countries and find that birds are by far the most difficult of family pets to relocate. Many of our customers, here in the United States, are wanting to export their birds to various countries. Each and every country has strict requirements when it comes to the import of pet birds. Hopefully we will soon be able to post each of these countries import requirements, however for now the best advice we can share with you is to visit this website to find out if your bird is a CITES bird.
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Because of this, most of all birds are listed under various CITES groups and each group must undergo special treatment to make sure we all work to control many endangered species and the threat of their survival. The CITES effort to regulate such practices, requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation. CITES was conceived in the spirit of such cooperation. Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats or dried herbs. Please visit their website to learn more about your specific bird and the CITES group it falls under.
One thing we do know and that does remain constant, is the import of birds into the US. We hope the information below will help you when making the decision on importing your pet bird into the United States.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has special rules for bringing pet birds into the United States from foreign countries. A pet bird is any bird--except poultry--that is kept for its owner's pleasure and is not for resale. (Commercial shipments of birds are imported under different rules than personally owned pet birds.) Poultry--even if kept as a pet--is brought into the country and quarantined under separate requirements than other species of birds. In addition to chickens and turkeys, USDA considers pheasants, partridge, ducks, geese, swans, quail, pigeons, and peafowl to be poultry under its importation rules.
Import Procedures:
To bring your pet bird from a foreign country into the United States, you must:
Reserve quarantine space at a USDA animal import facility.
All non-U.S. origin pet birds imported into the United States (except Canada) are required to be quarantined for 30 days in a USDA animal import quarantine facility at the owner's expense. A reservation at the facility must be made in advance by contacting the USDA port veterinarian at one of the special ports-of-entry listed
below. A cost estimate for the quarantine will be provided at that time.
Once the reservation is made and payment is received in full for all quarantine services, the animal import quarantine facility will issue a USDA import permit (VS Form 17-129). This permit must accompany the bird while in transit.
Document and Quarantine Requirements:
USDA import permit (VS Form 17-129)
Current Health Certificate issued by a full-time salaried veterinarian of the agency responsible for animal health of the national government in the exporting country of origin
30-day Quarantine in an USDA Animal Import Center
Fish and Wildlife Services Certification (if necessary)
Birds arriving for entry at these facilities without advance reservations will generally be refused. Also, please note that young birds that need to be hand-fed cannot be accepted for quarantine because removing them daily from the special isolation cages used at USDA quarantine facilities could interfere with the biological security of the facility.
To reserve quarantine space, work with your contact at PetRelocation.com or you can write to the USDA port veterinarian at the port of entry where you intend to arrive and request Veterinary Services (VS) Form 17-23.
Pet birds must enter the United States through one of the following ports of entry:
New York, New York
230-59 Rockaway Blvd.
Suite 101
Jamaica, NY 11413
Telephone (718) 553-1727 Fax (718) 553-7543
Miami Animal Import Center
USDA-APHIS-VS
6300 NW 36 Street
Miami, FL 33122
Telephone (305) 526-2926 Fax (305) 526-2929
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles International Airport
11850 South La Cienega Blvd..
Hawthorne, CA 90250
Telephone (310) 725-1970 Fax (310) 725-9119
Remember:
Pay USDA the total quarantine fee at the time you make reservations. This fee covers the costs of quarantining and examining your bird. The port veterinarian will provide a cost estimate in advance. Testing is covered under an additional user fee. You must include a check or money order made payable to USDA for the quarantine fee when you return the completed reservation forms.
Obtain a health certificate from the exporting country.
This certificate should be signed by a national government veterinarian and should state that the bird has been examined, shows no evidence of communicable diseases of poultry, and is being exported in accordance with the laws of that country. The foreign veterinary official must sign the certificate within 30 days of the time that the bird is shipped to the United States. If the health certificate is not in English, you must provide a translation. VS Form 17-23 includes an acceptable health certificate in English.
Note: In addition to health certificates, all species of birds to be allowed into the United States at any port must arrive with the appropriate documents from the Department of the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services(FWS) and the exporting country.
Also, because certain States administer their own regulations to protect wildlife and animal health, you should contact appropriate State officials when making importation arrangements to learn of any necessary State requirements.
Transport your bird and all necessary documentation to the import facility where you have reserved quarantine space. We will work with you to move your bird from the port of entry to the USDA import facility. Upon arriving at the facility, your bird will be transferred to a special isolation cage. Your transport cage must be removed from the premises because USDA animal import facilities do not have the space to store privately owned cages.
The Quarantine Period:
Individual bird-isolate cages prevent the spread of disease during quarantine.
Your bird will remain in quarantine for at least 30 days. USDA-APHIS veterinarians and other employees will care for your bird during this time. Pet birds are kept in air-filtered isolation cages to prevent the possible spread of disease within the import facility. Food and water are always readily available. To minimize the risk of birds being carriers of psittacosis, a bacterial disease that can cause flu like symptoms in humans, the feed provided in quarantine is lightly medicated.
APHIS veterinarians will test your bird during the quarantine period to ensure that it is free of communicable diseases of poultry. Unfortunately, if your bird is found to be infected with such a disease, it will not be allowed to enter the United States. If this should happen, you can choose to have your bird humanely destroyed or pay for its return to the country of origin.
Before leaving the United States with your pet bird, you must obtain a CITES export permit from FWS. Getting this permit before exporting your bird will save you time and energy because you will not be required to obtain a WBCA import permit to bring your bird back into the United States. However, you will need to obtain a CITES reexport permit from the country you visited before returning your bird to the United States.
Special Exemptions From USDA Quarantine Requirements
Bird owners who take their pets with them while traveling abroad are generally exempted from the USDA quarantine and foreign certification requirements. This exception applies only to U.S.-origin birds and is permitted as long as the owner makes special arrangements in advance.
If you wish to take your bird abroad, you must obtain all necessary USDA and FWS documents before departing the United States. Such preparation is especially critical for birds covered by CITES. You must get a health certificate signed by a USDA-accredited veterinarian, and you and your veterinarian should make certain that your bird is identified with a tattoo or numbered leg band and that this identification is recorded on the certificate.
While abroad, you must keep your pet bird separate from other birds. You must also make arrangements to have your bird inspected upon its return by a USDA-APHIS veterinarian. This inspection will be subject to a user fee. You may bring your bird through any of the ports of entry approved for birds or to any international airport that can be serviced by a USDA veterinary official.
Pet birds coming to the United States from Canada are also exempt from quarantine requirements because that country's animal and bird health status and importation requirements are similar to those of the United States.
If you plan to bring a pet bird into the United States from Canada by car, you must arrange for a veterinary inspection at a USDA-designated land border station. You must provide the APHIS veterinarian at the station with a signed statement available at the time of the inspection. In this statement, you must certify that your bird has been in your possession for at least 90 days, has been kept separate from other birds, and is healthy.
If you are shipping your bird to the United States from Canada by air, an APHIS veterinarian at a USDA-designated port of entry for air shipments of animals and animal products or at an international airport must inspect your bird. You must make advance arrangements for this inspection, which also requires a user fee.
Contact the VS National Center for Import/Export at 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737, for current information about ports of entry. The telephone number is (301) 734-5097.
Note: Birds from Canada or pet birds of U.S. origin that have traveled abroad with their owners are not exempt from FWS permit requirements under the Endangered Species Act and the WBCA.
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Because of this, most of all birds are listed under various CITES groups and each group must undergo special treatment to make sure we all work to control many endangered species and the threat of their survival. The CITES effort to regulate such practices, requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation. CITES was conceived in the spirit of such cooperation. Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats or dried herbs. Please visit their website to learn more about your specific bird and the CITES group it falls under.
One thing we do know and that does remain constant, is the import of birds into the US. We hope the information below will help you when making the decision on importing your pet bird into the United States.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has special rules for bringing pet birds into the United States from foreign countries. A pet bird is any bird--except poultry--that is kept for its owner's pleasure and is not for resale. (Commercial shipments of birds are imported under different rules than personally owned pet birds.) Poultry--even if kept as a pet--is brought into the country and quarantined under separate requirements than other species of birds. In addition to chickens and turkeys, USDA considers pheasants, partridge, ducks, geese, swans, quail, pigeons, and peafowl to be poultry under its importation rules.
Import Procedures:
To bring your pet bird from a foreign country into the United States, you must:
Reserve quarantine space at a USDA animal import facility.
All non-U.S. origin pet birds imported into the United States (except Canada) are required to be quarantined for 30 days in a USDA animal import quarantine facility at the owner's expense. A reservation at the facility must be made in advance by contacting the USDA port veterinarian at one of the special ports-of-entry listed
below. A cost estimate for the quarantine will be provided at that time.
Once the reservation is made and payment is received in full for all quarantine services, the animal import quarantine facility will issue a USDA import permit (VS Form 17-129). This permit must accompany the bird while in transit.
Document and Quarantine Requirements:
USDA import permit (VS Form 17-129)
Current Health Certificate issued by a full-time salaried veterinarian of the agency responsible for animal health of the national government in the exporting country of origin
30-day Quarantine in an USDA Animal Import Center
Fish and Wildlife Services Certification (if necessary)
Birds arriving for entry at these facilities without advance reservations will generally be refused. Also, please note that young birds that need to be hand-fed cannot be accepted for quarantine because removing them daily from the special isolation cages used at USDA quarantine facilities could interfere with the biological security of the facility.
To reserve quarantine space, work with your contact at PetRelocation.com or you can write to the USDA port veterinarian at the port of entry where you intend to arrive and request Veterinary Services (VS) Form 17-23.
Pet birds must enter the United States through one of the following ports of entry:
New York, New York
230-59 Rockaway Blvd.
Suite 101
Jamaica, NY 11413
Telephone (718) 553-1727 Fax (718) 553-7543
Miami Animal Import Center
USDA-APHIS-VS
6300 NW 36 Street
Miami, FL 33122
Telephone (305) 526-2926 Fax (305) 526-2929
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles International Airport
11850 South La Cienega Blvd..
Hawthorne, CA 90250
Telephone (310) 725-1970 Fax (310) 725-9119
Remember:
Pay USDA the total quarantine fee at the time you make reservations. This fee covers the costs of quarantining and examining your bird. The port veterinarian will provide a cost estimate in advance. Testing is covered under an additional user fee. You must include a check or money order made payable to USDA for the quarantine fee when you return the completed reservation forms.
Obtain a health certificate from the exporting country.
This certificate should be signed by a national government veterinarian and should state that the bird has been examined, shows no evidence of communicable diseases of poultry, and is being exported in accordance with the laws of that country. The foreign veterinary official must sign the certificate within 30 days of the time that the bird is shipped to the United States. If the health certificate is not in English, you must provide a translation. VS Form 17-23 includes an acceptable health certificate in English.
Note: In addition to health certificates, all species of birds to be allowed into the United States at any port must arrive with the appropriate documents from the Department of the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services(FWS) and the exporting country.
Also, because certain States administer their own regulations to protect wildlife and animal health, you should contact appropriate State officials when making importation arrangements to learn of any necessary State requirements.
Transport your bird and all necessary documentation to the import facility where you have reserved quarantine space. We will work with you to move your bird from the port of entry to the USDA import facility. Upon arriving at the facility, your bird will be transferred to a special isolation cage. Your transport cage must be removed from the premises because USDA animal import facilities do not have the space to store privately owned cages.
The Quarantine Period:
Individual bird-isolate cages prevent the spread of disease during quarantine.
Your bird will remain in quarantine for at least 30 days. USDA-APHIS veterinarians and other employees will care for your bird during this time. Pet birds are kept in air-filtered isolation cages to prevent the possible spread of disease within the import facility. Food and water are always readily available. To minimize the risk of birds being carriers of psittacosis, a bacterial disease that can cause flu like symptoms in humans, the feed provided in quarantine is lightly medicated.
APHIS veterinarians will test your bird during the quarantine period to ensure that it is free of communicable diseases of poultry. Unfortunately, if your bird is found to be infected with such a disease, it will not be allowed to enter the United States. If this should happen, you can choose to have your bird humanely destroyed or pay for its return to the country of origin.
Before leaving the United States with your pet bird, you must obtain a CITES export permit from FWS. Getting this permit before exporting your bird will save you time and energy because you will not be required to obtain a WBCA import permit to bring your bird back into the United States. However, you will need to obtain a CITES reexport permit from the country you visited before returning your bird to the United States.
Special Exemptions From USDA Quarantine Requirements
Bird owners who take their pets with them while traveling abroad are generally exempted from the USDA quarantine and foreign certification requirements. This exception applies only to U.S.-origin birds and is permitted as long as the owner makes special arrangements in advance.
If you wish to take your bird abroad, you must obtain all necessary USDA and FWS documents before departing the United States. Such preparation is especially critical for birds covered by CITES. You must get a health certificate signed by a USDA-accredited veterinarian, and you and your veterinarian should make certain that your bird is identified with a tattoo or numbered leg band and that this identification is recorded on the certificate.
While abroad, you must keep your pet bird separate from other birds. You must also make arrangements to have your bird inspected upon its return by a USDA-APHIS veterinarian. This inspection will be subject to a user fee. You may bring your bird through any of the ports of entry approved for birds or to any international airport that can be serviced by a USDA veterinary official.
Pet birds coming to the United States from Canada are also exempt from quarantine requirements because that country's animal and bird health status and importation requirements are similar to those of the United States.
If you plan to bring a pet bird into the United States from Canada by car, you must arrange for a veterinary inspection at a USDA-designated land border station. You must provide the APHIS veterinarian at the station with a signed statement available at the time of the inspection. In this statement, you must certify that your bird has been in your possession for at least 90 days, has been kept separate from other birds, and is healthy.
If you are shipping your bird to the United States from Canada by air, an APHIS veterinarian at a USDA-designated port of entry for air shipments of animals and animal products or at an international airport must inspect your bird. You must make advance arrangements for this inspection, which also requires a user fee.
Contact the VS National Center for Import/Export at 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737, for current information about ports of entry. The telephone number is (301) 734-5097.
Note: Birds from Canada or pet birds of U.S. origin that have traveled abroad with their owners are not exempt from FWS permit requirements under the Endangered Species Act and the WBCA.
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Currently I am residing in India (mumbai).
Can anyone help me out in this.