Bird's Nest: No Bar On The Sabah Visitors

Headline on page 7 of Daily Express daily of Sabah dated Wenesday April 22nd 2009:

Bird's Nest: No Bar On The Sabah Visitors.

By: Kassim Sangi

Kota Kinabalu: The State Wildlife Department allows tourist visiting Sabah to buy and bring home edible birds nest for personal consumption, its Director Laurentius Ambu said.

He said there is also no limit on the amount of bird's nest that tourists could buy and take out of the State. However, all purchases should be from outlets licensed by his department.

He said that tourists were required to fill up a form supplied by his department to the licensed outlet for the purpose of documentation in compliance with the requirement set by Convention of International Trade and Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).

Ambu was responding to reports tat tourist in Penang were not allowed to bring out edible bird nests without a permit from the Wildlife and National parks Department.

The report stated that as a result of the new ruling, tourists were caught unawares, resulting in many losing hundreds of thousands of ringgit on being asked to surrender the items on leaving the country.

Malaysia Birds Nest Merchant's Association President Datuk Beh Heng Seong said that the ruling would not only affect the bird's nest industry but also affect the nation's tourism image.

Besides he said it would be illogical for tourist to go all the way to the Department for a permit, which even if anyone does, takes four working days to be issued. Bird's nest is subject to an export duty of RM 100 per kilogram.

Anyone caught exporting or importing these without a permit can be fined up to RM 3,000 or jailed up to three years or both.

Ambu added that tourists who wanted to buy big volume would have to get permission from his department as this was necessary as to determine the source of the bird's nest.

He pointed out that Malaysia was among the signatories of the CITES and procedures affecting the ruling must be complied.