A watchdog group has raised concerns over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) five-year investigation into the sourcing of nonhuman primates (NHPs) from Cambodia, calling it a failed operation that may have given China an edge in vaccine research. The group, Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) for withholding documents related to the investigation, dubbed “Operation Long Tail Liberation.”
The FWS launched the investigation in response to claims that wild-caught longtail macaques were being illegally imported to the U.S. for medical research. The claims were driven in part by animal rights groups such as PETA, which have sought to end the use of NHPs in research. While longtail macaques are not an endangered species, their trade is highly regulated, with most primates intended for research required to be bred in captivity.
The FWS investigation, which took place without the knowledge or cooperation of the Cambodian government, relied on a Chinese national working at a primate facility in Cambodia. According to a press release from PPT, the informant was paid $225,000 and promised relocation to the U.S. in exchange for his cooperation. He reportedly installed spyware and monitored the facility, engaging in what PPT describes as "possibly illegal" acts to gather evidence.
Despite these efforts, the investigation resulted in a single prosecution of a minor Cambodian official, who was then acquitted. Meanwhile, the operation had wider implications for the supply chain of NHPs in the U.S., a vital resource for medical research, including vaccine development. As the investigation dragged on, the availability of NHPs for U.S. research tightened, leaving American firms hesitant to engage in breeding programs or import permits due to fears of legal entanglement.
One consequence of the investigation is that, as U.S. firms faced barriers in sourcing NHPs, China’s own research using the primates continued without interruption. With NHPs being a critical component of medical research, especially in the development of vaccines and treatments, critics argue that the U.S. investigation has inadvertently allowed China to gain an advantage in this area.
Protect the Public’s Trust has been seeking transparency on the investigation by submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the DOJ, which has been involved in prosecuting the case. However, the watchdog claims that the DOJ has stonewalled their requests, using what PPT describes as an "absurd" legal argument.
In particular, the DOJ claimed that PPT’s request for communications to and from a named attorney amounted to asking for records “on” that individual, a tactic that PPT says has been used before by federal agencies to deny access to records. PPT has now filed a lawsuit against the DOJ to force the release of the requested documents.
“In the aftermath of COVID-19, it’s hard to imagine a U.S. government agency handing our medical research capabilities directly to China,” Michael Chamberlain, Director of PPT, said in the press release.
Chamberlain also criticized the FWS for what he called a “ridiculous, legally dubious cloak and dagger operation” that has left taxpayers with little to show for it. He said the investigation failed to produce significant legal results, and has undermined U.S. research capabilities by choking off the supply of primates needed for critical medical research.
The House Committee on Natural Resources has also taken an interest in the issue. It held a hearing on September 10 to investigate the FWS operation.
