D. Ensuring a Stable Supply of Primates From Foreign Sources 
Nonhuman primates are not indigenous to the continental United States. 
Tlierefore, the United States is largely dependent on foreign sources 
for its primate supplies. These sources are unpredictable and fluctuate 
according to many factors. A stable, constant supply of these animals 
is demanded by the nature of the many essential biomedical activities 
in which primates are used. 
It is recommended that appropriate international arrangements 
be established to lend stability and constancy to foreign sources 
of primates . 
The United States depends, at least in part, upon foreign sources for 
all species of primates, in varying proportions according to the species. 
In no case is the United States self-sufficient and in most cases is 
almost entirely dependent upon imported animals. This should gradually 
change over the next few years as domestic breeding colonies are estab¬ 
lished and begin to produce. In the meantime, however, it is necessary 
to depend on importations not only to meet the demands of research and 
testing but also to provide the animals required as foundation stock 
for our breeding projects. 
The availability of primates for export from their native countries is 
fundamentally dependent upon the official policies and practices of the 
governments of those countries. In most of them, the export of primates 
is handled by private concerns operating under government control. The 
United States private firms, which deal direclty with these foreign 
suppliers, have served the biomedical community in overseas procurement, 
transporting, conditioning, and delivering the animals to the United 
States institutions requiring them. Only in situations where this system 
cannot operate v/ill it be necessary to enter into government-to-government 
arrangements. 
It is recommended that government-to-government arrangements be 
established only when commercial supply channels are unable to 
supply our needs . 
In some countries, there is hesitancy to authorize export of primates 
because reliable information on the wild populations is not available. 
Those countries sometimes require outside assistance in conducting 
surveys to measure and assess the population dynamics of their feral 
primates and in providing monitoring/management services so as to 
maintain and use this valuable resource. As a major primate importer. 
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