Difference between revisions of "Permitting"

Revision as of 19:22, 26 January 2017

Statement of Purpose

This page is for information on permitting in relation to both collecting, importing and exporting natural history collections.

Introduction

Contributors

Major author/editor: Breda Zimkus; original content for this page was first generated during The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) Annual Joint Meeting - 2016, during an iDigBio sponsored workshop by the following individuals participating in the "Field to Database" Group of the aforementioned workshop: Cesar Aguilar, Ben Frable, Meredith Mahoney, Zachary Randall, David Wernecke, and Breda Zimkus.

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Approval of Field Practices

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) ensure that all projects involving the use of live vertebrae animals comply with federal regulations and guidelines. An institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) is required by federal regulations for most institutions that use animals in research, teaching, and testing. The IACUC has a key oversight role, including the review and approval of animal use activities, and inspection of animal facilities.

Federal regulations and guidelines dealing with animal welfare focus mainly on biomedical and behavioral research, teaching, and testing that takes place in the laboratory. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations exempt field study ("any study done on free-living wild animals in their natural habitat, which does not involve an invasive procedure, and which does not harm or materially alter the behavior of the animals") from IACUC review. However, if the animals are confined, an invasive procedure is involved, or the behavior of the animal is harmed or materially altered, then the study must comply with federal regulations and standards. Since field studies often cannot satisfy the USDA definition, and the IACUC is also answerable to Public Health Service (PHS) Guidelines, researchers should have protocols reviewed by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) before specimens are collected. In addition, some funding agencies may require proposed projects involving use of any vertebrate animal for research or education be approved by the submitting organization's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) before an award can be made.

IACUC review of such studies would be necessary and would focus on, but not necessarily be restricted to, such issues as:

1. Number of animals to be used in the study, and the stability of the population from which the animals are to be taken
2. The appropriateness of the methods used for capturing, immobilizing, and euthanizing the animals
3. The training and supervision of the personnel involved with the study

http://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/ncstate/iacuc.htm

Access and Benefit-Sharing (Nagoya Protocol and the CBD)

Many countries have national legislation and regulations particularly with regard to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. The Nagoya Protocol establishes a legal framework for access to genetic resources (any biological material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin ‘containing functional units of heredity’, which includes specimens and their derivatives)and benefit-sharing (ABS): it requires countries to clarify access procedures, to share benefits that arise from utilization of genetic resources, and to ensure that users comply with provider country ABS laws. Users or collectors of biological material may be required to:

1. Obtain Prior Informed Consent (PIC) from the country providing the resource (the country of origin) regarding their proposed utilization of the genetic resources
2. Establish Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) between provider and user, including terms for sharing benefits arising from the utilization (if national access laws call for MAT to be established). Such agreements may be part of a Collection Permit, included in a Material Transfer Agreement, or covered by a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC).

The Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABSCH) is a web-based platform for information exchange associated with the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. This website should be the first and most relevant point of information when institutions or researchers plan to collect or access specimens or genetic resources or want to look up any country specific information. Data provided in the country profiles ideally include the following information:

• Checkpoints (i.e., national authorities and contacts associated with ABS)
• Competent National Authorities (CNAs; designated bodies responsible for granting access or issuing evidence that access requirements have been met)
• Contact information for National Focal Points (NFPs; designated body responsible for providing information on national legislation, rules, and procedures for access to genetic resources and ATK, and relevant authorities and stakeholders)
• Relevant legislative, administrative, and policy measures (e.g., act, decree, guidelines, regulations, rules associated with ABS)
• National websites or databases (e.g., guidance for foreign users seeking access to genetic resources, national Clearing-House mechanisms)

For more detailed information, see Access and Benefit-Sharing (Nagoya Protocol and the CBD).

Collection Permits

Federal Permit

MOU with local collaborators (e.g., university, researcher) may be required before federal permit is issued

Regional, State, Local Permits

(including Indigenous Lands and People, Landowner’s permission to collect, signed landowner permission may be required for some permits) [also, some private/indigenous groups stipulate protection of locality information in public databases, this should be noted in Cataloging section of wiki]

Salvage Permit

Capture Permit

Take Permit

Harassment Permit

Digital/Media Permissions

e.g., photo, video, sound

Protected Area Permit

e.g., National Park

Protected Species Permits

e.g., Threatened and Endangered)- includes collection and exportation?

Genetic Resource Permit

Permission to Take OR Permission to Export

Controlled Substances Permit

Exportation Declaration

(link to U.S. 3-177 page) Export documents may require information on final deposition of specimens

Importation Declaration

(link to U.S. 3-177 page)

CITES

(link to CITES page)

Links

Consensus Documents

Community Standards

Review Documents

References