Offering for sale Fauna & Flora

Two plus years ago [August 2005], l adopted this practice for my then website Piedipers Ark, and it has been present ever since although now residing fully within this website.

I believe there will come a day when websites offering fauna and flora for sale via the internet, will come down to CoP approved websites, l would like to see TSKA become such a site.

I think that in todays' challenging and constantly changing political and legislation market that it is wise for website owners to adopt this practice.

Introduction

This Code of Practice (CoP) has been developed with the participation of website owners, trade associations, keepers’ associations, government enforcement agencies and various other non-government organisations (NGOs). The CoP refers to Internet site owners who are involved in the trade in live fauna and flora and/or the parts and derivatives. This includes direct traders (e.g. online pet shops, breeders etc), and facilitators/conduits of trade (e.g. auction sites, classifieds sites, etc).

This CoP acknowledges that there is a lawful trade in fauna & flora (live specimens, and their parts and derivatives) operating legally on the Internet. However, it also recognises that that the Internet could also be used to facilitate illegal trade.

The purpose of this CoP is to eliminate any illegal trade whilst impacting as little as possible on lawful trade. Best practice outlined in this code will highlight the legal requirements of trade, whilst also serving the welfare needs and conservation implications of the trade in flora and fauna.

Internal Policy and Practice

Website owners should be aware of UK laws relating to the sale of fauna & flora, moreover they should be aware of the possibility of illegal trade on their sites. Internal policies and practices should be established to ensure compliance with the law; these should be reviewed at regular intervals. All reasonable steps should be undertaken to prevent illegal trade. Such steps should include, but should not limited to:

1. It is recommended that all website owners based in the UK selling fauna & flora carry a note to potential purchasers alerting them to the fact that should they choose to buy items from sites or traders not based in the UK they will become responsible for ensuring all necessary legal requirements are fulfilled prior to or at the time of import. Those choosing to buy from non-UK sites should assure themselves that all necessary requirements are included in the contract of sale before the sale is completed.
2. Carry out adequate, regular and detailed monitoring of the site for adverts offering fauna & flora which may contravene UK and/or international regulations.
3. Take rapid and appropriate action in relation to any suspicious wildlife items found by company staff or reported by users. If it is unclear whether an item is legal or illegal, the item should be removed as a precautionary measure until this is clarified with the seller or a law enforcement agency.
4. Where practicable, provide regular training and clear reference materials for staff in relation to the laws governing the sale of fauna & flora.
5. Ensure that the company marketing strategy does not encourage trade in violation of the law.
6. Devote sufficient resources to enable full and ongoing implementation of all the measures in this code of practice.

Education of Users

At minimum provide easy access for site users to user-friendly information on the legal requirements and legal sanctions for wildlife trading, including trade via Internet, and proactively draw users’ attention to this information:

1. Where practicable, establish a mechanism for when users search for particular keywords, such as those referring to Annex A listed species, a message appears asking the user to check the legality of the items for sale, warning them of the possible sanctions and offering a direct link to the relevant policy page.
2. Have a clear, plain-English policy document on the website concerning the advertising, buying and selling of live fauna and flora and/or wildlife products.
3. Make this policy easy to find from pages where items are advertised and from other parts of the website.
4. Actively promote awareness of the issue of wildlife crime among users through newsletters, news features, discussion boards and other channels of communication.

Reporting by Users

Establish an effective reporting mechanism to allow users to report any suspicious advertisement/sale of fauna flora easily. The mechanism should include the following features:

Cooperation with External Agencies

Cooperate fully with government enforcement agencies in order to reduce illegal wildlife trade:

1. Seek advice from appropriate enforcement agencies when developing a clear policy statement for users and finding appropriate links to other websites for more information.
2. Where practicable, establish a close relationship with key law enforcement agencies and agree a procedure and format for rapid and easy reporting of suspicious items.
3. Cooperate fully and rapidly with any criminal investigation and prosecution.
4. Help to promote government and other initiatives to raise public awareness about illegal wildlife trade, e.g. PAW (Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime)

Policy document for UK Website Owners

Offering for sale Fauna & Flora

Live fauna

UK Websites dealing with live fauna

• Vendors (sellers) should state the country of which they are resident, and the country from which the item is being sold.

All our exotic stockilist entries have been validated by ourselves and are clients to TSKA, based in the United Kingdom, unless they are displayed different to reflect a European client. Our species for sale display the location of the species for sale.

• Vendors should make all practical enquires to ensure that purchasers are over the age of 16 including direct contact by phone prior to completing any transaction if necessary.

TSKA have a policy on board that we only sell exotic species to keepers 18 and above. We do not sell species for persons under this age. Whilst we acknowledge that the COP's are looking at the right age being 16, we strongly disagree with this age, and as such our age is 18.

• It is an offence to offer a species covered by EU Wildlife Trade Regulations Annex A for sale without a valid Article 10 Certificate [see link]

We advertise whether species carry the Art 10's or they do not.

• The vendor should, where possible, provide a copy of the relevant import permit number, or other documentation, e.g. receipt, to the purchaser for any CITES listed species not included on Annex A.

This is not directly aimed at the likes of us, this information would be included amongst receipts to any purchases relevant to this kind.

• It is required that any species scheduled by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act be clearly marked as such

Any exotic species we advertise that is covered by this law, we do display. In addition to this we also stipulate the requirement of Public Liability insurance [PL]

• Vendors of animals scheduled under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act should make all practical enquires to ensure that the purchaser has such a license or is exempt from same.

We do in fact request from both those selling and those buying that we or our clients see copies of all relevant paperwork

• The vendor should provide sufficient care information, i.e. a care sheet, to the purchaser at time of sale or prior to sale.

TSKA do not hold our clients' livestock, but do endeavour to make sure that all informations concerning the welfare and husbandry of the species in question is covered. We can at a clients request furnish buyers of species with care guides, we do have our own care guide site that is constantly being added to.

• It should be noted that it is illegal to send any live vertebrate through the postal system, national or international.

TSKA send nothing through the postal system, although we do have our own licenced transport service that we can offer our clients and buyers.

• When sending live animals by courier, to avoid delays, Vendors should arrange a confirmed delivery date with the customers to ensure that some one is present to accept the delivery on arrival.

We ensure when using either our courier service or external services that all arrangements are made prior to the animals' departure

• Live vertebrate animals transported for commercial purposes must be accompanied by a valid Animal Transport Certificate under the Welfare Of Animals (Transport) Order 1997

TSKA Gremlin Rides is covered by this, but should we not be used we can advise buyers on how to apply for this.

In the two years since l first was sent this proposed code, l have worked it into my websites and do await the actual code of practice with eagerness. I think it is imperative for all those affected by these regulations to display to all your readership the importance of these codes and promote responsibility within the industry.

In addition to this, as a brand we introduced and have now had for two years running a screening protocol of applicants to keep species based upon their experience levels. I have now incorporated this feature to all the livestock that we sell on behalf of our client base.

Covering legislation is also another aspect that we cover so that our readership may keep up to date with all the comings, goings and passings of new documents.

Early 2008 TSKA introduced and launched the first of the guides to purchasing certain species.

We will also be introducing species specific screening forms.