COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

DECLARATION OF AN APPROVED WILDLIFE TRADE OPERATION

1. I, Laura Timmins, Senior Director of the Wildlife Trade Office, delegate for the Minister for the Environment:

(a) having considered any comments that were given in response to an invitation under section 303FR(1) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act); and

(b) being satisfied as to the matters set out in section 303FN of the EPBC Act,

declare that the operation to commercially export live native queen ants by Queen of Ants is an approved small-scale wildlife trade operation for the purposes of section 303FN of the EPBC Act.

2.      The Plan is subject to the declaration in paragraph 1 only:

(a)   for a period of three years from the date of registration on the Federal Register of Legislation;

(b)   while the conditions specified in the Schedule of this Declaration are complied with.

Dated this ….21st…. day of ….October…. 2020

.................................Laura Timmins..............................

Delegate of the Minister for the Environment

A person whose interests are affected by this declaration may, within 28 days, make an application in writing to the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment for the reasons for the decision.

An application for independent review of the decision (under section 303GJ(1) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) may be made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), on payment of the relevant fee (currently $884 or reduced fee where applicable due to financial hardship) by the applicant, either within 28 days of receipt of the reasons for the decision, or within 28 days of this declaration if reasons for the decision are not sought. Applications should be made to the Deputy Registrar, AAT in your capital city. Please visit the AAT’s website at http://www.aat.gov.au/ for further information. You may make an application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) to access documents relevant to this decision. For further information, please visit http://www.environment.gov.au/foi/index.html.Further inquiries should be directed to the Director, Wildlife Trade Assessments Section, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, by email wta@awe.gov.au or telephone (02) 6274 1900 (option 2).

SCHEDULE

Declaration of Queen of Ants as an approved wildlife trade operation, October 2020

ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS (section 303FT)

Relating to the harvesting of queen ants, other than specimens of species listed under
s.178 of Part 13 and s.303CA of Part 13A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999:

Condition 1

The operation is undertaken in accordance with the proposal submitted to the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment by Mrs Erin Funnell, trading as Queen of Ants, 11 May 2020, and as amended 28 September 2020.

Harvest of queen ants must not involve any excavation or damage to existing nests or colonies.

The maximum number of individual queen ants each year per taxa (1 January – 31 December) is as follows:

*The subspecies Myrmecia sp. 17 is excluded from this proposal.

Condition 2

The operation is required to comply with all relevant state or territory legislation, including the maintenance of any licenses required to undertake the operation.

Condition 3

Harvest is initially limited to specimens sourced from Victoria. Specimens sourced from other Australian states and territories may only be exported with the prior approval of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment.

Applications for harvest from additional Australian states and territories must include but are not limited to:

• supplier details
• harvest location
• intended harvest numbers (by species); and
• copies of any required harvest permits issued by the jurisdiction of collection.

Condition 4

All species identified on the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and all species listed as threatened under the EPBC Act and relevant state and territory environmental legislation are excluded from this operation.

Condition 5

Accurate up-to-date records must be maintained in accordance with the requirements of the state regulatory body in which the collection occurs and include all information necessary for the reporting outlined in Condition 6. If requested, these records will be made available to the Department in a timely manner.

Condition 6

An annual report must be provided to the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment 12 months to the day of the declaration’s registration on the Federal Register of Legislation. This report will cover the preceding 12 months. Annual reports must include, but are not limited to:

• The number of specimens harvested (by species, harvest area and supplier) in the previous 12 months
• The number of specimens exported (by species, harvest area and supplied) in the previous 12 months

Any changes to the management regime of the operation and relevant State or Territory regulation.