Alien squirrels trade banned in the EU

The international trade of 3 invasive species of squirrels - namely Callosciurus erythraeus, Sciurus carolinensis and Sciurus niger - is now suspended in the EU.



A new updated regulation for the implementation of CITES in the European Union member states has increased the list of species whose introduction (i.e. international trade) is suspended in the EU on the basis of the evidence that they constitute an ecological threat to EU biodiversity. Already included in the list were two sliders Trachemys scripta elegans, and Chrisemys picta, a frog Rana catesbeiana, and a duck Oxyura jamaicensis.


Once entered into force the Regulation is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

For detail see the "Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 757/2012 of 20 August 2012 suspending the introduction into the Union of specimens of certain species of wild fauna and flora". A pdf copy of the regulation is available here (in all EU languages): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32012R0757:EN:NOT



For more information on the EU Wildlife Trade Regulation you can visit the relevant EC wesite: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/cites/home_en.htm