Pet Age Staff//December 14, 2016//
Pet Age Staff //December 14, 2016//
The following was published on the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) website:
The Issue
The Department of the Interior has been asked to release certain information in its Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) for the year 2005 to the present relating to the import and export of all wildlife specimens to and from the United States. It also provides you with the opportunity to object to the public release of these records if they are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552(b).
https://www.fws.gov/le/foia/CBD-Federal-Notice-Freedom-of-Information-Act-Lawsuit.pdf
In response to these FOIA requests, FWS withheld the “Declared Value of Wildlife” and “Foreign Importer/Exporter” columns in their entirety under FOIA Exemption 4. (FWS withheld additional information under Exemptions 6 and 7(C).) In August, CBD sued the Department, challenging the legality of FWS’s assertion of these FOIA exemptions: Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service No. 16-00527 (D.-Ariz., filed August 8, 2016). Please reference Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. FWS No. 16-00527, in any future communications with FWS regarding this matter.
In Plain English
The Center for Biological Diversity is suing to get the “Declared Value of Wildlife” and “Foreign Importer/Exporter” information on all animals imported into the United States. The Fish and Wildlife Service is taking comments from affected parties until December 16 on whether or not to release the information. We need those impacted to send comments to the FWS on this matter before the deadline. Although the issue at hand is similar, this is a different lawsuit than Humane Society Int’l v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
Details
Submit comments before the Dec. 16 deadline to:
WarninG
Any comments you submit to the Department objecting to the disclosure of the documents may be subject to disclosure under the FOIA if the Department receives a FOIA request for them, so do not include trade secrets in your letter.