European Union Applies TRACES System to Hunting Trophies

The European Union has applied the TRACES system to hunting trophies, creating yet another bureaucratic hurdle to clear before trophies arrive safely to their final destination. The International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) (www.cic-wildlife.org) has posted an advisory to all outfitters, taxidermy companies and trophy exporters outside the European Community, informing them that "pursuant to the EU-Commission Regulation 142/2011 they have to be registered [with] the EU authorities, if they intend to export hunting trophies into countries of the EU in the future." You can read the full text of this alert at http://www.cic-wildlife.org/index.php?id=746. This rule refers to all trophies from animals with horns, feathers or hooves. Elephants, carnivores and crocodiles are not affected. The regulation, which quietly came into effect on May 1, 2011 after a transition period of only 14 days, stipulates that all "trophy processing plants" require a Trade Control and Export System "TRACES" registration number from the EU Commission's Directorate D (Animal Health) of the Directorate-General SANCO (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/sanco/traces/) in Brussels. We consulted John J. Jackson, III, of Conservation Force (www.conservationforce.org) to get his take on this new (and, apparently, entirely unnecessary) regulation. His takeaway for international hunters is this: if any trophy shipment you are involved with is touching European soil at any point in its journey, make absolutely certain that all shippers involved are correctly registered with EU authorities and that the "Common Veterinary Entry Document" or CVED has been created for the shipment. According to the CIC release, a number of important hunting countries have not yet complied. For more information on getting a TRACES number, visit http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Health_and_social_care/Food/TRACES.htm. This site offers guidelines on how to register for TRACES. We are indebted to Conservation Force for finding this information and sharing it with Hunting Report subscribers. Importantly, hunters who in the past have chosen to take their trophies home as part of their baggage will be put out by this registration requirement. The CIC warns, "The new regulation will make it virtually impossible for foreign hunters to take their trophies home with them after the hunt."

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