Japanese border authorities last month stopped a New Zealand velvet exporter’s shipment at an airport because they did not recognise DOC’s approach to certifying legally hunted and farmed game animals.
DOC has been issuing certificates of export for deer, tahr and chamois products.
A new form letter from DOC director general Lou Sanson will list seven species of introduced deer plus Himalayan tahr, chamois and possums.
They are introduced species that can be legally hunted and exported as trophies, velvet, fur and meat.
Export sources said some of the recent border confusion arose from DOC stamping certificates with both a DOC logo and a CITES certificate. The DOC insignia has no standing as an export mark.
CITES is a legally-binding global convention between 180 countries meant to stifle trade in endangered species.
NZ joined CITES in 1989 and passed the Trade in Endangered Species Act 1989. Under the Act DOC issues permits for CITES-listed specimens exported from or coming into NZ.
The illegal trade in CITES specimens is worth billions of dollars a year and about 6000 species of animals and 30,000 species of plants are protected by the convention.
DOC national compliance manager Marta Lang said none of this country’s ordinary game products are from CITES-listed species so NZ legislation does not require their individual certification.
Domestically, DOC is talking to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade and reaching out to exporters who have in the past received DOC certificates of exports, as it prepares to change this service.
The department is also engaging with CITES regulatory authorities in importing countries on the matter.
So far there has been contact with officials in the United States, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Britain, Denmark and Korea.
Meantime, DOC continues to issue certificates of export for non-CITES species. There is no internationally accepted CITES standard for certifying non-CITES species, Lang said.
DOC is not considering passing responsibilities for the export certification to MPI or any other agency, she said.
MPI certifies exported animal material and animal products for animal health and food safety purposes.
Neither would the Game Animal Council have a management role, Lang said.
The council is an independent statutory body that will make its own decisions as to how it supports its hunting sector stakeholders through the documentation change.
DOC is liaising with the council about the proposed changes, she said.
Exporters will be able to download the final version of the new DOC letter from the department’s website along with other export documents to get their products into overseas markets from July 17.
DOC plans to stop providing certificates of export on July 27. It charges a $40 administration fee for a certificate. The new letter will be free.
Sanson’s letter is available on the DOC website, in draft form.
MORE:
