50 CFR § 23.53 - What are the requirements for obtaining a retrospective CITES document?
(a) Retrospective CITES documents may be issued and accepted in certain limited situations after an export or re-export has occurred, but before the shipment is cleared for import. When specific conditions are met, a retrospective CITES document may be issued to authorize trade that has taken place without a CITES document or to correct certain technical errors in a CITES document after the authorized activity has occurred.
(b) U.S. and foreign general provisions. The following provisions apply to the issuance and acceptance of a retrospective CITES document:
(1) A retrospective document may not be issued for Appendix-I specimens except for certain specimens for personal use as specified in paragraph (d)(7) of this section.
(2) The exporter or re-exporter must notify the Management Authority in the exporting or re- exporting country of the irregularities that have occurred.
(3) A retrospective document may be one of the following:
(i) An amended CITES document where it can be shown that the issuing Management Authority made a technical error that was not prompted by the applicant.
(ii) A newly issued CITES document where it can be shown that the applicant was misinformed by CITES officials or the circumstances in (d)(7) of this section apply and a shipment has occurred without a document.
(4) Retrospective documents can only be issued after consultation between the Management Authorities in both the exporting or re- exporting country and the importing country, including a thorough investigation of circumstances and agreement between them that criteria in paragraph (d) of this section have been met.
(5) The issuing Management Authority must provide all of the following information on any retrospective CITES document:
(i) A statement that it was issued retrospectively.
(ii) A statement specifying the reason for the issuance.
(iii) In the case of a document issued for personal use, a condition restricting sale of the specimen within 6 months following the import of the specimen.
(6) The issuing Management Authority must send a copy of the retrospective CITES document to the Secretariat.
(7) In general, except when the exporter or re-exporter and importer have demonstrated they were not responsible for the irregularities, any person who has been issued a CITES document in the past will not be eligible to receive a retrospective document.
(8) In the United States, you may not use a U.S. CITES document issued under a CITES master file or CITES annual program as a retrospective CITES document.
(c) U.S. application. Complete application Form 3–200–58 and submit it to the U.S. Management Authority. In addition, submit one of the following:
(1) For a shipment that occurred under a document containing a technical error, the faulty CITES document.
(2) For a shipment that occurred without a CITES document, a completed application form for the type of activity you conducted (see §§ 23.18 through 23.20).
(d) Criteria. The criteria in this paragraph (d) apply to the issuance and acceptance of U.S. and foreign documents. When applying for a U.S. document, you must provide sufficient information for us to find that your activity meets all of the following criteria:
(1) The specimens were exported or re- exported without a CITES document or with a CITES document that contained technical errors as provided in paragraph (d)(6)(ii) of this section.
(2) The specimens were presented to the appropriate official for inspection at the time of import and a request for a retrospective CITES document was made at that time.
(3) The export or re-export and import of the specimens was otherwise in compliance with CITES and the relevant national legislation of the countries involved.
(4) The importing Management Authority has agreed to accept the retrospectively issued CITES document.
(5) The specimens must be Appendix-II or -III wildlife or plants, except as provided in paragraph (d)(7) of this section.
(6) Except as provided in paragraph (d)(7) of this section, the exporter or re-exporter and importer were not responsible for the irregularities that occurred and have demonstrated one of the following:
(i) The Management Authority or officials designated to clear CITES shipments misinformed the exporter or re-exporter or the importer about the CITES requirements. In the United States, this would be an employee of the FWS (for any species) or APHIS or CBP (for plants).
(ii) The Management Authority made a technical error when issuing the CITES document that was not prompted by information provided by the applicant.
(7) In the case of specimens for personal use, you must either show that you qualify under paragraph (d)(6) of this section, or that a genuine error was made and that there was no attempt to deceive. The following specimens for personal use may qualify for issuance of a retrospective document:
(i) Personal or household effects as defined in § 23.5.
(ii) Live Appendix-II or -III specimens or live pre-Convention Appendix-I specimens that you own for your personal use, accompanied you, and number no more than two.
(iii) Parts, products, or derivatives of an Appendix-I species that qualify as pre-Convention when the following conditions are met:
(A) You own and possess the specimen for personal use.
(B) You either wore the specimen as clothing or an accessory or took it as part of your personal baggage, which was carried by you or checked as baggage on the same plane, boat, car, or train as you.
(C) The quantity is reasonably necessary or appropriate for the nature of your trip or stay.
(e) U.S. standard conditions. In addition to the conditions in § 23.56, the following condition applies: A CITES document issued for a shipment that has already occurred does not require validation.
(f) Validation. Submit the original unvalidated retrospective CITES document to the appropriate foreign authority. We will not validate the retrospective CITES document for a shipment that has already been shipped to a foreign country, and we do not require validation on retrospective documents issued by foreign Management Authorities.