Permits for exotic species in Puerto Rico

They are the permits the Secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources may issue for activities involving exotic species, which Article 16(b) lists as permits for capture, export, purchase-sale, possession and importation. The Act defines an exotic species in Article 2(o) as one which, in the Secretary’s judgement, is not part of Puerto Rico’s native or migratory flora or fauna; and in Article 2(n) defines harmful or invasive species as those the Secretary designates by regulation for causing or potentially causing economic, environmental or human-health damage.

Article 6(c) reaches any person, and Article 2(v) defines a person as any natural or legal person, including the Government of Puerto Rico, its agencies and instrumentalities. Article 4 adds two situations with conditions of their own: the Secretary may only approve a short-duration permit to import and exhibit animals in a circus or carnival if it is determined that the animals will be handled by a professional trainer, and may approve import permits for introduced species for scientific purposes, for duly accredited academic entities or for accredited zoos.

• Holding a prior and current permit from the Secretary to introduce, import, possess, reproduce, buy, sell, exchange, transport or export exotic, harmful or venomous species (Article 6(c)).Verified against the official source
• Renewing the permit for possession and purchase-sale of exotic species: failing to renew it is one of the illegal acts listed in Article 6(d).Verified against the official source
• To run a business buying and selling exotic species, holding the licence or authorisation from the Department and also from the Administración de Reglamentos y Permisos (Article 6(r)).Verified against the official source
• Not using means of communication, print, digital or photographic messaging or Internet advertisements to facilitate, propitiate, promote or disseminate the prohibited activity (Article 6(c)).Verified against the official source
• Paying the seal the Secretary charges per specimen or per season for the export and import of exotic species (Article 16(c)).Verified against the official source
• For circuses and carnivals, that it be determined that the animals to be exhibited will be handled by a professional trainer; the permit will be of short duration (Article 4).Verified against the official source

• The Secretary’s prior permit for the activity in question: capture, export, purchase-sale, possession or importation (Article 16(b)).
• The per-specimen or per-season seal the Secretary charges for the export and import of exotic species (Article 16(c)).
• The licence or authorisation from the Administración de Reglamentos y Permisos, in addition to the Department’s, if running a purchase-sale business (Article 6(r)).

1. 1

   Step 1: Possessing needs a permit too

   It is the most surprising part of Article 6(c), so it goes first. The list of acts that are illegal without the Secretary’s prior permit, or with an expired one, has nine verbs: introducing, importing, possessing, reproducing, buying, selling, exchanging, transporting or exporting exotic, harmful or venomous species. Possessing is there, on the same footing as importing and selling. You need neither bring it in nor charge anyone to fall under the subsection: having it is enough.

2. 2

   Step 2: What counts as an exotic species

   Article 2(o) gives no list: it defines exotic species as those which, in the judgement of the DRNA Secretary, are not part of Puerto Rico’s native or migratory flora or fauna. Article 2(n) separately defines harmful or invasive species as those the Secretary designates by regulation as causing or potentially causing economic, environmental or human-health damage. The two categories join the venomous ones in Article 6(c), and Article 9(e) empowers the Secretary to determine which they are and to provide for eradicating those already established here. The concrete list lives in the regulation, not in the Act.

3. 3

   Step 3: Importing is broader than clearing customs

   Article 2(r) defines importing as landing, entering, introducing or attempting to land, enter or introduce flora and fauna anywhere within Puerto Rico’s jurisdiction, and adds a phrase that closes the easy exit: regardless of whether that activity constitutes an importation within the meaning of the US Customs Act or of any other contrary definition. The attempt counts. Article 2(s) defines an importer as the person the Department authorises to import species.

4. 4

   Step 4: Advertising it is part of the prohibition

   The second sentence of Article 6(c) expressly forbids the use of any means of communication, print, digital and photographic messaging, and the placing of advertisements on Internet pages for the purpose of facilitating, propitiating, promoting or disseminating any activity aimed at that end. That is: the advertisement is not preparation for the offence, it is the offence. Posting the sale of an exotic animal without a permit on social media falls within the text as drafted.

5. 5

   Step 5: A business needs two authorisations, not one

   Article 6(r) makes it illegal to operate a business for the purchase-sale of exotic species, or to sell exotic species, without the corresponding licence or authorisation from the Department and from the Administración de Reglamentos y Permisos. The conjunction is “and”, not “or”: the environmental permit does not stand in for the permitting one, nor the other way round. Article 6(d) adds a continuing duty that is easy to forget: failing to renew the permit for possession and purchase-sale of exotic species is itself an illegal act.

6. 6

   Step 6: Buying and selling fauna is banned, with one exception

   Article 6(e) makes the purchase-sale of fauna, its young, nests or parts illegal, and then opens a single door: this prohibition does not include exotic species produced in captivity in game preserves or by breeders the Secretary authorises by regulation for the purpose of supplying game preserves. Outside that circuit, the purchase-sale of fauna is prohibited by the text.

7. 7

   Step 7: Circuses, zoos and universities have their own route

   Article 4, in the same article that creates the Advisory Board, sets two import rules. The first: the Secretary may only approve a short-duration permit to import and exhibit animals in a circus or carnival provided it is determined that the animals to be exhibited will be handled by a professional trainer. The second: the Secretary may approve import permits for introduced species for scientific purposes, for duly accredited academic entities or for accredited zoos, in accordance with Article 9.

8. 8

   Step 8: Fines rise sharply for venomous and commercial cases

   Article 22(a) has three tiers and all are counted per specimen. The general one is a misdemeanour, with a fine of not less than one hundred and not more than five hundred dollars per specimen, or up to six months in jail, or both. Where it relates to harmful and venomous species it is a felony, with a mandatory fine of not less than one thousand and not more than five thousand dollars per specimen, or six months and one day to three years, or both. And commercial importation and the trade in illegal, harmful or venomous exotic species are felonies punished with a fine of not less than five thousand and not more than fifty thousand dollars per specimen, or ninety days to three years in jail, or both.

9. 9

   Step 9: What happens to the animal if it is seized

   Article 23 names the Secretary trustee and custodian of all wildlife, as well as of seized exotic, harmful and venomous animals, and empowers them to bring civil actions claiming damages. The same article assigns twenty-five per cent of the Special Fund for Wildlife Management to the Cuerpo de Vigilantes, among other things to provide direct care to seized animals.

Before the Secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, who issues the permits for capture, export, purchase-sale, possession and importation of exotic species (Article 16(b)), charges the per-specimen or per-season seal (Article 16(c)) and regulates the introduction, possession and purchase-sale of these species (Article 9(c)). If a purchase-sale business is also being run, Article 6(r) additionally requires the licence or authorisation from the Administración de Reglamentos y Permisos.

• Believing the permit is only needed to import: possessing is on the same list in Article 6(c).
• Thinking an expired permit is no problem: the subsection punishes acting “with an expired one” just the same.
• Posting the animal for sale online: advertising the activity is prohibited by the same subsection.
• Opening the business with only the DRNA permit: Article 6(r) also requires the one from the Administración de Reglamentos y Permisos.
• Forgetting to renew the possession and purchase-sale permit: failing to renew it is an illegal act on its own.
• Assuming there was no importation if it did not clear customs: the Article 2(r) definition is independent of the Customs Act and includes the attempt.
• Counting the fine as a single one: the three tiers of Article 22 are counted per specimen.
• Treating the venomous case as minor: it is a felony with a mandatory fine starting at a thousand dollars per specimen.
• Selling young or parts of fauna outside the game-preserve circuit: the purchase-sale of fauna is prohibited by Article 6(e).
• Bringing animals in for a circus without more: the permit is short-duration and requires a professional trainer to handle them.
• Expecting to find the list of species in the Act: Article 9(e) leaves it to the regulation.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA)

  DRNA

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov