(a) U.S. and foreign general provisions. Except as provided for personal and household effects in §23.15, the import, export, or re-export of sport-hunted trophies of species listed under CITES must meet the requirements of this section and the other requirements of this part (see subparts B and C for prohibitions and application procedures).

(b) Sport-hunted trophy means a whole dead animal or a readily recognizable part or derivative of an animal specifically identified on accompanying CITES documents that meets the following criteria:

(1) Is raw, processed, or manufactured;

(2) Was legally obtained by the hunter through hunting for his or her personal use;

(3) Is being imported, exported, or re-exported by or on behalf of the hunter as part of the transfer from its country of origin ultimately to the hunter's country of usual residence; and

(4) Includes worked, manufactured, or handicraft items made from the sport-hunted animal only when:

(i) Such items are contained in the same shipment as raw or tanned parts of the sport-hunted animal and are for the personal use of the hunter;

(ii) The quantity of such items is no more than could reasonably be expected given the number of animals taken by the hunter as shown on the license or other documentation of the authorized hunt accompanying the shipment; and

(iii) The accompanying CITES documents (export document and, if appropriate, import permit) contain a complete itemization and description of all items included in the shipment.

(c) Use after import. You may use your sport-hunted trophy after import into the United States as provided in §23.55.

(d) Quantity. The following provisions apply to the issuance and acceptance of U.S. and foreign documents for sport-hunted trophies originating from a population for which the Conference of the Parties has established an export quota. The number of trophies that one hunter may import in any calendar year for the following species is:

(1) No more than two leopard (Panthera pardus) trophies.

(2) No more than one markhor (Capra falconeri) trophy.

(3) No more than one black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) trophy.

(e) Marking or tagging.

(1) The following provisions apply to the issuance and acceptance of U.S. and foreign documents for sport-hunted trophies originating from a population for which the Conference of the Parties has established an export quota. Each trophy imported, exported, or re-exported must be marked or tagged in the following manner:

(i) Leopard and markhor: Each raw or tanned skin must have a self-locking tag inserted through the skin and permanently locked in place using the locking mechanism of the tag. The tag must indicate the country of origin, the number of the specimen in relation to the annual quota, and the calendar year in which the specimen was taken in the wild. A mounted sport-hunted trophy must be accompanied by the tag from the skin used to make the mount.

(ii) Black rhinoceros: Parts of the trophy, including, but not limited to, skin, skull, or horns, whether mounted or loose, should be individually marked with reference to the country of origin, species, the number of the specimen in relation to the annual quota, and the year of export.

(iii) Crocodilians: See marking requirements in §23.70.

(iv) The export permit or re-export certificate or an annex attached to the permit or certificate must contain all the information that is given on the tag.

(2) African elephant (Loxodonta africana). The following provisions apply to the issuance and acceptance of U.S. and foreign documents for sport-hunted trophies of African elephant. The trophy ivory must be legibly marked by means of punch-dies, indelible ink, or other form of permanent marking, under a marking and registration system established by the country of origin, with the following formula: The country of origin represented by the corresponding two-letter ISO country code; the last two digits of the year in which the elephant was harvested for export; the serial number for the year in question; and the weight of the ivory in kilograms. The mark must be highlighted with a flash of color and placed on the lip mark area. The lip mark area is the area of a whole African elephant tusk where the tusk emerges from the skull and which is usually denoted by a prominent ring of staining on the tusk in its natural state.

[72 FR 48448, Aug. 23, 2007, as amended at 79 FR 30428, May 27, 2014]