Canadian authorities say they checked the documents of thousands of macaques imported recently from Cambodia and no trade rules were broken.
A Canadian Food Inspection Agency spokesperson confirmed to The Gazette that the monkeys are still alive, and are being held in quarantine in an undisclosed location.
The spokesperson would not say where exactly the macaques are being held. “The CFIA is unable to share confidential information with third parties about importers.”
PETA suspects many of these monkeys were caught in the wild, since authorities in the U.S. conducted an undercover investigation from 2018 to 2022 that provided evidence that some 30,000 wild-caught macaques of Cambodian origin had been falsely labeled as raised in captivity.
This practise of falsifying export permits is not only against international treaties designed to protect the macaques from extinction, but it puts humans who may come into contact with the monkeys in danger. Animals bred in captivity for use in biomedical research are controlled and tested for such pathogens before export.
The company, which has several facilities in Quebec, including in Senneville, Sherbrooke and Laval, has said it complies with all Canadian and international regulations pertaining to the importation, care, and treatment of animals used in research.
The CFIA is responsible for regulating the importation of animals into Canada to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases that may affect the health of both humans and animals. Environment and Climate Change Canada is responsible for verifying the origin of any endangered species imported into the country, according to the Canadian Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Last week, a media relations spokesperson for ECCC, Samuel Lafontaine, told The Gazette the department had found no indication of non-compliance with the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA).
“A Canadian CITES re-export permit for biomedical samples is only issued after verification of the Cambodian CITES permit that was used to bring the identified macaques into Canada,” Lafontaine explained in an emailed message.
“Environment and Climate Change Canada has verified that all recent imports of live macaques, tissues, serum, blood or plasma coming directly or indirectly from Cambodia or other countries for use in biomedical research comply with WAPPRIITA. As of Nov. 4, 2024, the department has found no indication of non-compliance.”
If ECCC determines that “macaques (or any other non-human primates) have been harvested, traded, or transported illegally, ECCC enforcement officers will take appropriate action in accordance with the compliance and enforcement policy for wildlife legislation,” he said.
But Lisa Jones-Engel, who heads up the Laboratory Investigations Department with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said that checking export permits to see whether Cambodian authorities have classified the animals as ‘C’ for “captive-bred” is not enough.
“That is so utterly beside the point because everyone knows the paperwork has been consistently falsified,” Jones-Engel said. “So (ECCC) went back and checked the piece of paper and found the letter ‘C’ on it? That doesn’t mean you’ve done your job as authorities to verify the provenance of the animals.”
She noted that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has refused to allow Charles River to sell or use for research any of the 1,269 macaques the company imported from Cambodia in late 2022 and early 2023. PETA claims Charles River has since increased imports into Canada, bringing more than 6,800 monkeys from Cambodia to its Montreal-area facilities since early 2023.
“Charles River … could not prove to the American authorities that the animals were truly captive bred,” said Jones-Engel. “So why are the Canadians not demanding the same level of proof from Charles River Canada? I truly don’t understand. It boggles me.”
Jones-Engel wants Canadian authorities to act quickly to prosecute any breach of CITES rules and to move monkeys deemed to have been illegally imported to an animal sanctuary, with costs paid by the importers. She notes that the trade in primates for research is lucrative, with sellers fetching about $15,000 to $20,000 per animal.
“Canada has to shut the door immediately on, at a minimum, Cambodian imports,” of macaques, she said.