(a) Purpose. Article VII(4) and (5) of the Treaty provide exemptions that allow for special treatment of plants that were artificially propagated (see §§23.40 and 23.47).

(b) Definitions. The following terms apply when determining whether specimens qualify as “artificially propagated”:

(1) Controlled conditions means a nonnatural environment that is intensively manipulated by human intervention for the purpose of plant production. General characteristics of controlled conditions may include, but are not limited to, tillage, fertilization, weed and pest control, irrigation, or nursery operations such as potting, bedding, or protection from weather.

(2) Cultivated parental stock means the ensemble of plants grown under controlled conditions that are used for reproduction.

(c) Artificially propagated criteria. Except as provided in paragraphs (f) and (g) of this section, for a plant specimen to qualify as artificially propagated, we must be satisfied that the plant specimen was grown under controlled conditions from a seed, cutting, division, callus tissue, other plant tissue, spore, or other propagule that either is exempt from the provisions of CITES or has been derived from cultivated parental stock. The cultivated parental stock must meet all of the following criteria:

(1) Was established in accordance with the provisions of CITES and relevant national laws.

(2) Was established in a manner not detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild.

(3) Is maintained in sufficient quantities for propagation so as to minimize or eliminate the need for augmentation from the wild, with such augmentation occurring only as an exception and limited to the amount necessary to maintain the vigor and productivity of the cultivated parental stock.

(d) Cutting or division. A plant grown from a cutting or division is considered to be artificially propagated only if the traded specimen does not contain any material collected from the wild.

(e) Grafted plant. A grafted plant is artificially propagated only when both the rootstock and the material grafted to it have been taken from specimens that were artificially propagated in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section. A grafted specimen that consists of taxa from different Appendices is treated as a specimen of the taxon listed in the more restrictive Appendix.

(f) Timber. Timber taken from trees planted and grown in a monospecific plantation is considered artificially propagated if the seeds or other propagules from which the trees are grown were legally acquired and obtained in a non-detrimental manner.

(g) Exception for certain plant specimens grown from wild-collected seeds or spores. Plant specimens grown from wild-collected seeds or spores may be considered artificially propagated only when all of the following conditions have been met:

(1) Establishment of a cultivated parental stock for the taxon presents significant difficulties because specimens take a long time to reach reproductive age.

(2) The seeds or spores are collected from the wild and grown under controlled conditions within a range country, which must also be the country of origin of the seeds or spores.

(3) The Management Authority of the range country has determined that the collection of seeds or spores was legal and consistent with relevant national laws for the protection and conservation of the species.

(4) The Scientific Authority of the range country has determined that collection of the seeds or spores was not detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild, and allowing trade in such specimens has a positive effect on the conservation of wild populations. In making these determinations, all of the following conditions must be met:

(i) The collection of seeds or spores for this purpose must be limited in such a manner as to allow regeneration of the wild population.

(ii) A portion of the plants produced must be used to establish plantations to serve as cultivated parental stock in the future and become an additional source of seeds or spores and thus reduce or eliminate the need to collect seeds or spores from the wild.

(iii) A portion of the plants produced must be used for replanting in the wild, to enhance recovery of existing populations or to re-establish populations that have been extirpated.

(5) Operations propagating Appendix-I species for commercial purposes must be registered with the CITES Secretariat in accordance with the Guidelines for the registration of nurseries exporting artificially propagated specimens of Appendix-I species.

[72 FR 48448, Aug. 23, 2007, as amended at 79 FR 30426, May 27, 2014]