---
kind: "section"
citation: "50 C.F.R. § 23.45"
title: "50"
number: "23.45"
heading: "What are the requirements for a pre-Convention specimen?"
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/50/23.45"
---

# §23.45. What are the requirements for a pre-Convention specimen?

- (a) **Purpose.** Article VII(2) of the Treaty exempts a pre-Convention specimen from standard permitting requirements in Articles III, IV, and V of the Treaty when the exporting or re-exporting country is satisfied that the specimen was acquired before the provisions of CITES applied to it and issues a CITES document to that effect.
- (b) **U.S. and foreign general provisions.** The following general provisions apply to the issuance and acceptance of pre-Convention documents:
  - (1) Trade in a specimen under the pre-Convention exemption is allowed only if the importing country will accept a pre-Convention certificate.
  - (2) The pre-Convention date is the date the species was first listed under CITES regardless of whether the species has subsequently been transferred from one Appendix to another.
  - (3) **For a pre-Convention Appendix-I specimen, no CITES import permit is required.**
  - (4) The pre-Convention exemption does not apply to offspring or cell lines of any wildlife or plant born or propagated after the date the species was first listed under CITES.
- (c) **U.S. application form.** Complete Form 3-200-23 (wildlife) or Form 3-200-32 (plants) and submit it to the U.S. Management Authority.
- (d) **Criteria.** The criteria in this [paragraph (d)](#d) apply to the issuance and acceptance of U.S. and foreign certificates. When applying for a U.S. certificate, you must provide sufficient information for us to find that the specimen meets all of the following criteria:
  - (1) The specimen was removed from the wild or born or propagated in a controlled environment before the date CITES first applied to it, or is a product (including a manufactured item) or derivative made from such specimen.
  - (2) The scientific name of the species is the standard nomenclature in the CITES Appendices or the references adopted by the CoP (see [§ 23.23](/cfr/50/23.23.md)).
  - (3) Live wildlife or plants will be prepared and shipped so as to minimize risk of injury, damage to health, or cruel treatment of the specimen.
  - (4) For the re-export of a pre-Convention specimen previously imported under a CITES document, the wildlife or plant was legally imported.

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (March 3, 1973), 27 U.S.T. 1087; and Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

### Source

Source: 72 FR 48448, Aug. 23, 2007, unless otherwise noted.