Moving, need help

[allthelove11]

Hi, I’m currently in the process of moving to Paris and I want to bring my Brachypelma Hamorii with me. The US Wildlife people are basically useless as they don’t have offices anywhere near me and they haven’t called me back. Anyone got any way to help me get my tarantula nice and legal to go to France?

 

[Eighth Eye Blind]

Are you moving there permanently or just staying for a while?

FYI, CITES permitting is now done online so the chance of them responding to you by phone or email is pretty much zilch.

 

[allthelove11]

Permanently. Is there any alternative to CITES?

 

[Eighth Eye Blind]

Is there any alternative to CITES?

Sorry to tell you this, but no. All Brachypelma species are listed on CITES Schedule II so they cannot legally cross an international border without a permit. There's a simplified procedure for privately-owned companion animals (a "Pet Passport") but it's limited to certain species (not including T's) and only available for permanent US residents who will be returning to the US with their pets someday.

To take your T to France you're going to need a CITES export permit from FWS, a USDA zoosanitary certificate and time-of-departure inspection at an airport that has a certified veterinary inspection facility (this sometimes gets waived by the country of import), and the equivalent import permit and arrival inspection in France. CITES doesn't actually require an import permit for Schedule II animals but under French/EU regulations you usually need one anyway. Tarantulas are classed as "property", not "pets", so you have to do all of the normal customs documentation as well.

The export permit process can take anywhere from 2 weeks to several months depending on your individual circumstances. In my experience the norm for getting an export certificate is about two months. I have no idea how fast the French are at processing import permits.

Note that your pet doesn't have to travel with you, though, so you can leave it here with somebody and have them ship it once you have the permits in place. You can also place it with a pet transport company who will help you get all of the proper paperwork together and care for your T until it's cleared to travel.

This is assuming that your animal is even eligible for export. Most tarantulas are not. To get an export permit you have to demonstrate that either 1) the animal was captive bred inside the US (not just captive born here - the FWS instructions are confusing about that), or 2) the animal was previously imported to the US under a valid CITES permit. You'll need either a letter of certification from the breeder or a copy of the original import permit. If you can't get either of those you can try to convince FWS that the animal was captive bred using other evidence (receipts that say so, emails from the breeder, etc.) but it's up to you to persuade them the animal is export eligible. If you bought from somebody you don't know off of Craigslist or a message board your chance of getting the permit are pretty low.

I know what it's like to be emotionally attached to an animal and I really hate to say this, but you should think pretty hard about how much you love this particular spider. The amount of money and energy required to get her into France would buy you 20-30 new slings over there. It's not an easy process.

Also, tempting as it may be, trying to smuggle her isn't a great idea. If she leaves the US without an export permit she will be permanently illegal for import everywhere. Neither France nor the US will allow her in or issue a retroactive permit. Even Mexico won't take her. She'll be seized and most likely euthanized and you'll probably get fined and denied entry into whichever country you're not a citizen of. It's just not worth it.

If you really want to take her with, start by going HERE and submitting an online Form 3-200-46 with FWS. Let me know if you decide to go forward with it and I'll drop you some tips to help speed up the application. There's actually an extra hoop you need to jump through for permitting a B. hamorii that can cost you months of delay if you don't get it right. The process is a little crazy and the instructions are often confusing especially if you don't speak the bureaucratic lingo of the American government.

Good luck with the move!

 

[m0lsx]

I am not sure if helps or not. But one of my Brachypelma Hamorii came from someone moving from the UK to the US. He said he could not take it due to CITES. If I remember correctly she, the T, could not leave the UK or enter the US without the correct paperwork & that could not be acquired.

Personally I have a couple of T's with CITES certificates. But even with that certificate, I am not sure that the paperwork is easy to acquire.