Wild Animal and Plant Trade

Act: Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA), S.C. 1992, c. 52
Regulation: Wild Animal and Plant Trade Regulations, SOR/96-263

To Whom Does This Apply?

Anyone who ships or transports animal or plant specimens of wild species from one province to another, or into or out of Canada.

The law applies to live animals and plants; dead animals and plants; and to their parts and derivatives. Derivatives are products made from the protected animal or plant. For example, medicines made from rhinoceros horns are covered by the same restrictions as is the animal itself.

Eligible Activities

Shipping or transporting animal or plant specimens of wild species from one province to another, or into or out of Canada.

Summary

The Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA) controls the import, export, interprovincial transport and sale of all wild species of animals and plants and their parts and derivatives. Schedule I of the Regulations identifies the species that are regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and that require either a CITES export permit or both a CITES export permit and import permit depending on the CITES Appendix they are listed. Schedule II identifies other species requiring an import permit, where these species are harmful to Canadian ecosystems.

Under WAPPRIITA, a person can be prosecuted anywhere in Canada for contravening a provincial wildlife law, as well as for violating foreign legislation.

The Wild Animal and Plant Trade Regulations provide for the following:

• designate the species of wild animals and plants that are to be subject to each of the prohibitions in the Act;
• prosecution based on labels, marks or accompanying documents for imported/exported products;
• establish limited exemptions related to the prohibition against trafficking in certain endangered species, and to personal and household effects;
• establish the procedure for Removal Notices and for Forfeiture of detained goods.

Permits

WAPPRIITA requires a permit for any trade involving a wild species protected by the Act unless it meets the conditions for a permit exemption. Please contact the main CITES Management Authority office when you want the following:

• information about CITES and permit requirements;
• an import permit;
• a temporary movement certificate;
• a certificate of ownership for personal pets (pet passport);
• a scientific certificate;
• an export permit if you reside in Alberta, in Quebec or in Saskatchewan;
• an export permit for species that are not indigenous to British Columbia and for all plant species, both native and non-native to British Columbia, if you are a resident of British Columbia; and
• an export permit for an artificially propagated plant, or for a wild plant collected in a foreign country.¹

1- Exception: If the plant specimen is in Quebec and is from a species indigenous to Quebec, whether artificially propagated or wild, then contact the Quebec Department of Wildlife and Parks. This exception does not apply to cultivated American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius).

DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this section is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute advice for any specific fact situation. For particular questions, the users are invited to contact their lawyer. For additional information, see contact(s) listed below.

Quebec Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
CITES Office
Canadian Wildlife Service
Environment Canada
Place Vincent Massey
351 Saint-Joseph Boulevard
Gatineau, Quebec  K1A 0H3
Telephone: 819-997-1840
Fax: 819-953-6283
Toll-free (information): 1-800-668-6767
E-mail: Cites@ec.gc.ca
Web site: http://www.cites.ec.gc.ca/eng/sct0/index_e.cfm