EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 - Section 303EC (1) (a)
Amendment of the List of Specimens that are taken to be suitable for live import.
(Issued under Authority of the Minister for the Environment and Heritage)
Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) a live specimen may only be imported if it is included on the list of specimens that are taken to be suitable for live import (the list).
The list was established in accordance with section 303EB of the EPBC Act and has two parts. Part 1 comprises species exempt from the need for an import permit from the Department of the Environment and Heritage. Part 2 comprises species that can be imported with a permit from the Department of the Environment and Heritage.
Aotus trivirgatus currently appears on the list because it was permitted for import under the previous legislation, Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982. At that time A. trivirgatus contained 10 subspecies but in 1983 all subspecies were elevated to the species level, a taxonomic change agreed by the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The effect of this instrument is to add two species of Owl Monkey (A. lemurinus and A. nancymaae) to Part 2 of the list. As these species were permitted for entry under the previous legislation as subspecies of A. trivirgatus, they should also appear on Part 2 of the live import list established under the EPBC Act (303EB(10)). The conditions to be attached to these imports are: “eligible non-commercial purposes only, excluding household pets High security facilities only.” A. trivirgatus import conditions will also be changed to include “high security facilities only”, which was not required under the procedures attached to the previous legislation.
In accordance with s. 303EC(1)(c) of the EPBC Act, the effect of this instrument is to add A. lemurinus and A. nancymaae to Part 2 of the list and to change the import conditions for A. trivirgatus.
This instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
The instrument commenced on the day after it was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.