Agreement On International Humane Trapping Standards (Aihts)
The agreement provides that traps used for listed species are assessed in accordance with ISO testing standards and must then be certified in accordance with AIHTS animal welfare requirements for use in Canada, the EU or Russia. These changes were made by the Humane Trapping Standards Regulation 2019 and the Spring Traps Approval (England) Order 2018, Spring Traps Approval (Wales) Order 2019 and Spring Traps (Scotland) Variation Order 2018. Some new case registrations have been granted by adding some human alternatives to stoat control and expanding the human control capabilities of grey squirrels. The following table shows all the trap permissions that will be valid in the future, and the human tests on which they are based. In some cases, the terms of use mentioned in the STAO and repeated in this table refer to manufacturers` instructions that must be complied with. British instructions for doc traps can be find here on the manufacturer`s website. Where testing procedures are established under ISO, the International Standards Organization, and these procedures are relevant to assessing the compliance of fishing methods with some or all of the standards requirements, ISO procedures apply, if any. To date, more than 200 trap models have been tested and certified to AIHTS certification standards. Almost all tests are conducted in Canada. The Agreement on International Standards for Humane Trapping (AIHTS) was negotiated in 1997 to decide on a trade embargo threatened by the EU in 1991 against countries that marketed Pelz e.V. of wild animals captured by inhumane methods. The dispute began with pressure within the EU from animal rights groups protesting against the fur trade and focusing mainly on the use of leg catch traps.
An additional 12 months was granted between the completion of implementation and the phasing out of non-compliant stoat traps. Thus, from April 1, 2020, it will no longer be lawful to use fenn traps (Fenn, Springer, Solway and copies of these traps), Magnum 55, 110, 116 or WCS Tube Traps to catch stoats. From that date, stoats can only be caught in traps or live traps in general licences issued separately in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (similar to those for the capture of corvid birds). These licenses are not yet available, but the spring traps mentioned will likely be those allowed in STAOs, so there should be no surprises, unless other authorizations are added before April 1, 2020. „The agreement on international humane trapping standards has a measurable impact on animal welfare through the use of certified fishing systems and educational programs.” Some animals must be equipped with telemetry recorders (for example. B for recording heart rate, respiratory rate) before the test. Such a set-up must be done long enough before capture to allow the animal to recover from the disturbances caused by the seizure of these recorders.