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Guyana Responds To Concerns Raised By Dutch Authorities On Export Of Animals

GEORGETOWN, Guyana CMC – Guyana has requested that the authorities in the Netherlands provide information on the violations of international regulations regarding the shipment of animals after the Dutch authorities said they had filed violations against the exporters of animals from Guyana.

The Dutch said they had taken the position after more than 360 of the animals had died prior to arriving there.

The Dutch Food and Goods Authority (NVWA) said in a statement that the 370 caimans and reptiles were imported into the country between November and earlier this month.

It said that on Thursday last week, the last occasion when animals were brought there from Guyana, 200 caimans and three snakes in transit to the Ukraine died after being left out in the freezing cold for nearly two hours.

In addition, NVWA said that the animals also had not been boxed properly and at least 48 caimans had died before they were discovered.

NVWA said that also on November 29, it had discovered 444 caimans from Guyana and had been shipped in boxes of 50 when the international standard is three animals per box.

But the Wildlife Management Authority WMA) here, while acknowledging the death of the animals, said in the first case on November 29, the shipment caimans was routed through Canada and Turkey.

“The Dutch Authorities determined that the animals had not been transported in accordance with the IATA Live Animal Regulations. They noted that ventilation was not adequate for the caimans, the caimans were transported “too cold” and that the packing density outlined by the IATA Live Animal Regulations was not adhered to.

“On December 12, 2013 another shipment of caimans departed Guyana, destined for Ukraine. The shipment was routed through The Netherlands where the Dutch Authorities once again determined that the caimans were transported in violation of the IATA Live Animal Regulations and seized the shipment.”

The WMA said that it has since requested that the Dutch authorities “provide further information on the specific violations pertaining to this shipment and is awaiting a response”.

It said that the general container requirements (Live Animal Regulations, 2011) indicate that the dimensions of inner enclosures and/or outer enclosures must be related to the actual size of the specimens being transported.

In general, the container must allow the animal to lie in a natural manner with enough space so that stacking does not take place. Further, the height of the container should allow air flow over the animals but must also prevent stacking,” the WMA quoted the regulation as indicating.

It said also with regard to ventilation and temperature, reptiles are cold blooded and have lower oxygen requirements than birds and mammals.

“Therefore, the ventilation and the size of the ventilation openings would be dependent on the ambient temperature. Shipments that are exposed to cold climates will require fewer ventilation openings than shipments that are exposed to hot climates.

“The ventilation openings must be small enough to prevent the escape of the animals and meshed openings must be added to the outer container to prevent the possible blockage of inner ventilation holes by the outer container. To protect the animals from extreme temperatures, insulated or lined containers are recommended. “

The WMA also said the container requirement also makes specific recommendations for transporting for crocodiles, including all kinds of alligators, caimans and any other crocodilian species.

“Based on the foregoing, it is clear that while some parameters are established for the shipment of live animals, there is ambiguity in the guidelines which can lead to subjectivity on the part of inspecting officers,” the WMA said, adding that it would now seek to train its inspecting officers on the IATA Live Animal Regulations as well as develop clearer guidelines “within the parameters laid out by the IATA Live Animal Regulations to avoid accusations of subjectivity on the part of inspecting officers.

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