Migratory Bird Permits; Revisions to Migratory Bird Import and Export Regulations

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, change the regulations governing migratory bird permitting. We amend 50 CFR part 21 to allow the export of lawfully-acquired, captive-bred raptors without obtaining a migratory bird export permit; to resolve problems related to export of species covered by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) permits or certificates; to allow the importation and possession without an import permit of legally-acquired migratory game birds in the families Anatidae, Columbidae, Gruidae, Rallidae, or Scolopacidae that were lawfully hunted in a foreign country; to extend the maximum time for which an import and export permit is valid from 3 to 5 years; and to reorganize and reword the regulations to make them easier to understand.