These Regulations amend the Wildlife and Countryside (Registration and Ringing of Certain Captive Birds) Regulations 1982 (S.I. 1982/1221) (“the 1982 Regulations”).

The 1982 Regulations are amended to provide that birds listed in the Schedule (peregrine falcon and merlin) may be registered in any register kept by the Secretary of State of birds for which a certificate is held of a kind referred to in Article 10 of EC Regulation No. 338/97 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein (O.J. L161, 3.3.1997, p.1). In relation to birds listed or to be listed in any such register, the provision that the registration shall cease to have effect when the registered bird is disposed of (eg by sale) is disapplied. In addition, the provisions providing that the registration shall cease to have effect when the bird is kept, possessed or under the control of a person other than its registered keeper, or is no longer kept at its registered address, are also disapplied in relation to any peregrine falcon and merlin listed or to be listed in any such register (regulation 5).

Regulation 7 makes amendments to the 1982 Regulations to provide that a bird is marked in accordance with the 1982 Regulations if it is marked in accordance with the requirements of European Regulations which implement paragraph 7 of Article VI of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Wildlife Species Conservation Division, at Zone 1/11, Defra, Temple Quay House, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6EB, and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.