Wild Birds Conservation Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-440).

The purposes of this Act is to promote the conservation of exotic birds by assisting wild birds conservation and management programs in countries of origin, by regulating trade, in wild birds involving the United States, and by encouraging and supporting effective implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). A moratorium on the importation of any specified exotic bird is established by section 105.The Secretary of the Interior shall publish periodically a list of species of exotic birds that are listed in an Annex of the Convention and that are not subject to prohibition of suspension of importation otherwise applicable under section 105 (sect. 106). The Secretary may qualify exotic birds breeding facilities under section 107. (17 sections)
The Act is based upon congressional findings that the United States, as the world's largest importer of exotic birds, should play a substantial role in finding effective solutions to unacceptably high mortality associated with the international pet trade in wild-caught exotic birds which, in addition to habitat loss and local use, is contributing to the decline of species in the wild. The purpose of this Act is to promote the conservation of exotic birds by assisting wild bird conservation and management programmes in the countries of origin of wild birds; ensuring that all trade in species of exotic birds involving the United States is biologically sustainable and is not detrimental to the species; limiting or prohibiting imports of exotic birds when necessary; and encouraging and supporting effective implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, as amended (Convention). A separate account is established in the Treasury for the "Exotic Bird Conservation Fund" which will be used to provide financial and technical assistance for projects to conserve exotic birds in their native countries. The Act imposes an immediate moratorium on the importation of certain exotic birds and authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to lift the prohibition after determining that appropriate remedial measures have been taken in the countries of origin for that species.
The Secretary of Interior is also authorized to suspend importation of exotic birds of any species listed in any Appendix to the Convention after making determinations about the detrimental effect of trade on that species. The Act also authorizes the Secretary, after making specified findings, to establish and subsequently terminate a moratorium or quota on species of exotic birds that are not listed in any Appendix to the Convention. Within one year of enactment, importation of any exotic bird of a species that is listed in any Appendix to the Convention is prohibited unless that species is listed, after notice and public comment, by the Secretary of the Interior. Determinations regarding which species will be listed, and therefore exempt from prohibition or suspension of importation, must be based on the best scientific information available and the adequacy of regulatory and enforcement mechanisms in all countries of origin for the species. Criteria specified for making these determinations require evaluation of qualifying facilities and management plans in the country of origin. The Secretary of the Interior is also authorized to determine which facilities are "qualifying facilities" under the criteria specified under the Act. The Secretary is authorized to issue import permits, notwithstanding any prohibition, suspension or quota, for birds to be used in scientific research, as pets, in zoological breeding or display programmes or in cooperative breeding programmes.
Any person may petition the Secretary to establish, modify or terminate any prohibition, suspension or quota on importation; list or de-list a species of exotic bird; or determine whether a bird breeding facility is a qualifying facility. The Act provides for civil and criminal penalties and the promulgation of marking or recordkeeping regulations. The term "exotic bird" means "any live or dead member of the class Aves that is not indigenous to the 50 States or the District of Columbia, including any egg or offspring thereof" with specified exceptions.