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birds native to the 50 States and the District of Columbia from 

 its provisions. 



At the time that the WBCA was enacted, the United States was the 

 world's largest importer of wild exotic birds, importing more 

 than 1.4 million wild birds from 1988 to 1990. Approximately 

 half of these were parrots and other species protected by CITES. 

 Experts estimated that for every wild-caught bird offered for 

 sale in a pet store up to five died along the way, starting from 

 the point of capture. During one five-year period from 1985 to 

 1990, over 330,000 birds arrived at the U.S. port of entry 

 already dead or they died within the first 30 days of quarantine, 

 according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 



The WBCA was passed to enhance CITES implementation by ensuring 

 that any imports into the United States of CITES-listed species 

 would be allowed only if the necessary biological findings could 

 be made. CITES is the international treaty with 128 parties 

 which regulates international trade in certain plant and animal 

 species. CITES specifically acknowledges the obligation of each 

 Party to enforce the treaty and to adopt its own national laws 

 regulating trade in CITES-listed wildlife. However, many 

 exporting countries lack the resources to obtain sufficient 

 biological data regarding their wild bird populations to make the 

 "non-detriment finding" required by CITES to ensure that trade is 



