The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing a final rule to establish new regulations and standards governing the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of birds covered by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).  The final rule applies to captive birds not bred for use in research.  

The final rule will help ensure all birds subject to the AWA are raised and cared for in conditions that ensure their good health and well-being, and that their physical and behavioral needs are met. The rule outlines how entities with regulated birds can obtain a license and the standards they would have to follow. 

Current AWA licensees and registrants must comply with this new rule by August 21,2023.  New AWA licensees and registrants must obtain a license and comply with this new rule by February 21, 2024.  This final rule may be viewed in today’s Federal Register.  

APHIS announced a proposed rule, along with an Environmental Assessment and a Regulatory Impact Analysis, in February 2022 and received more than 19,000 comments from interested stakeholders. APHIS reviewed the comments and incorporated the feedback into the final rule. 

APHIS is committed to ensuring the welfare of regulated animals and continues to carry out the critical day-to-day work of enforcing the AWA, including establishing acceptable standards of humane care and treatment for regulated animals and monitoring and achieving compliance through inspections, enforcement, education, and cooperative efforts. 

Original source can be found here.