Bringing birds back from European Union Countries

 

This is another complication for the movement of birds overseas.

A long list of European birds has been added to Cities by Ukraine in a bid to stop bird trafficking. It is something the UK has to abide by and thus you need to pre-notify APHA and have a permit / documentation to bring any of the listed species into or out of the the UK, or in fact across any country border!

It ONLY affects birds being moved across a country border into or out of the UK, it is not applicable if you move birds within UK

The Ukraine made the unilateral decision to list their populations of these species onto CITES Appendix III, therefore documentation is now needed to demonstrate that any Ukrainian harvested specimens were appropriately acquired or that the specimens are not from the Ukraine.

These changes came into force on 22 June 2021 meaning there are additional requirements to move these species into or out of GB (including between Great Britain and Northern Ireland):

• Export from GB: apply for export documents from APHA and submit an import notification if moving them to the EU or Northern Ireland.

• Import into GB: apply for export documents from the country of export (this might be CITES export permit or certificate of origin) and submit an import notification.

 

If you are planning on moving any of the specimens listed, please contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) as soon as possible to check what CITES documentation is required and allow at least 30 days to receive them. 

More information on applying for CITES permits and certificates can be found here.  If you are looking to move any of these species between Great Britain and Northern Ireland or vice versa, please contact me for specific advice as the rules are slightly different for NI movements.

 

In addition please check the list of CITES designated UK points of entry and exit (PoE) for moving CITES-listed animals or plants, or their products. You will also need to check that your preferred port has a Border Control Post (BCP) facilities to carry out any additional sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls required for your birds.

Here is the list of birds affected:

 

Eurasian lark (Skylark)

Crested lark

Woodlark

Calandra lark

Yellowhammer

Ortolan Bunting

Common linnet

European goldfinch

Common redpoll

Arctic redpoll

Eurasian siskin

Common rosefinch

Red crossbill

Eurasian bullfinch

European serin

European robin

Red-breasted flycatcher

Icterine warbler

Bluethroat

Thrush nightingale

Common nightingale

Common rock thrush

Eurasian blackcap

Garden warbler

Lesser whitethroat

Barred warbler

Eurasian Blackbird

Song thrush

Eurasian golden oriole

Coal tit

Eurasian wren