Part of the problem involved those new requirements by US Fish & Wildlife Service on export permits for CITES animals. We've warned you before about these changes and how any improperly documented shipments will be returned from the US. Well, the French Veterinary Department at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris has followed suit, refusing to handle any improperly prepared trophy shipments. That led Air France to refuse taking any more trophy shipments, as all rejected crates must be returned to the country of origin. Air France, of course, is the main European airline flying into Central Africa. That left scores of trophy shipments stranded with no way to get to Paris.
Fred Duckworth of Fred Duckworth Safaris tells me that safari operators worked with the CITES officer of the Ministry of Water, Forests, Hunting, Fish & Environment in Bangui to expedite the required paperwork and ensure that it was done properly. At the same time, trophy handling companies in Paris arranged for Libyan Airlines out of Tripoli to take trophy shipments, and crates began moving from Bangui to Paris in early September. Clients should already be receiving their shipments.
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