Everything You Need to Know About CITES Administration

General information about the administration

Protected, notifiable birds are classified into two groups. One group includes “protected” birds listed under CITES Appendix II (Annex B), while the other includes “strictly protected” birds listed under CITES Appendix I (Annex A). For Appendix II birds, a blue or green document contains the bird’s details (species name, parents’ data, ring/chip number) and the breeder’s name. For Appendix I birds, this EU certificate is a yellow A4 sheet.

The permit/document confirming the bird’s status must be kept for as long as the bird is in your possession, because this is how you can prove its origin during an inspection. In all cases, any change of ownership (sale/purchase) and any death must be reported to the competent county environmental authority within 30 days (Hungary).

What to do if our parrots change owners

The change-of-ownership form can be downloaded from the CITES website; on the back of the form you can find the postal addresses of the county environmental authorities in Hungary. You must send the completed form and the bird’s CITES document to the appropriate mailing address for your county. IMPORTANT! In addition, the new owner must receive the original CITES paper, because these two documents must be submitted together (by post or electronically) to the county environmental authority by the new owner—while the previous owner submits the change-of-ownership notification form.

Once the authority has received the documents from both parties, it issues an official decision to the new owner confirming the registration of the purchase, and the previous owner receives a decision stating that the bird has been removed from their register.

Reporting offspring of parrots under CITES I and CITES II – Hungary

When breeding protected parrots, the chicks must be reported to the competent authority within 30 days after hatching, after they have been individually identified (with a closed ring or a microchip).

All up-to-date information is available on cites.hu (fees, forms, etc.).

In the case of CITES II offspring, the offspring notification form must be sent to the county government office responsible for your place of residence (Hungary), along with proof of payment of the fee for issuing the “breeder’s certificate.” The certificate is sent by post within 60 days at the latest.

In the case of CITES I offspring, you must similarly send the offspring notification form to the county government office (Hungary) and request that the birds be entered into the register. Once this has been completed, you must fill in the “EU certificate application” form, which will include the registration number received earlier. The declaration belonging to the EU application must also be completed.

After that, the administrative fee must be paid, and the proof of payment must be sent together with the other documents to the Ministry of Agriculture. The process may take approximately 2–3 weeks longer; however, if you start in time, you will have the paperwork by the time the chicks fledge and leave the nest.

Notification of CITES permit–regulated birds (change of ownership, offspring, and death) – Hungary

General information about the administration

What to do if our parrots change owners

Reporting offspring of parrots under CITES I and CITES II – Hungary