The Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007

Sale etc of live or dead wild birds, eggs etc U.K.

37.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and regulation 49, a person is guilty of an offence if he sells, offers or exposes for sale, or has in his possession or transports for the purpose of sale—

(a) any live or dead wild bird, or any part of, or anything derived from, such a bird; or

(b) an egg of a wild bird.

(2) A person is not guilty of an offence by reason of paragraph (1) in respect of any bird belonging to a species referred to in Annex III/1 to the Wild Birds Directive, or any egg of such a bird, or anything derived from such a bird, if he shows that—

(a) the bird, egg or other thing had been lawfully killed or taken; or

(b) the bird, egg or other thing had been lawfully sold (whether to him or any other person) or otherwise lawfully acquired by him.

(3) In paragraph (2) “lawfully” means—

(a) without contravention of Part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, or these Regulations; or

(b) in the case of a bird, egg or other thing killed, taken or sold in Gibraltar or a member State (other than the United Kingdom), without contravention (as the case may be) of the law of Gibraltar or that State implementing the Wild Birds Directive .

(4) In any proceedings for an offence under this regulation—

(a) the bird in question is to be presumed to have been wild unless the contrary is shown; and

(b) if the prosecution prove—

(i) that the part of a bird in question, or the egg in question, is of a bird which is a member of a species referred to in Article 1 of the Wild Birds Directive, or

(ii) that the thing is question is derived from such a bird,

it is to be presumed that the bird was a wild bird unless the contrary is shown.

(5) In this regulation—

(a) “egg” includes part of an egg; and

(b) “sale” includes hire, barter and exchange and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.