The Foreign Bird Federation
Reply to: Bryan E. Reed,
Hon. Sec.
4 St. Andrews Drive,
Tividale,
Oldbury,
West Midlands,
B69 1PR.
22nd April 2008

DEFRA,
Zone 1/07,
Temple Key House,
2 The Square,
Temple Quay,
Bristol,
BS1 6EB.

Dear Sirs,

Consultation on introducing a full cost recovery charging regime for cites licences.

The full recovery charges proposed from 1st October 2008 affect only a minority of our members, but a proportion of these have interests not only in birds, but also in reptiles and orchids. Therefore, we wish to complain most vociferously about your rationale and the introduction of the proposed exorbitant charges.

• Little if any notice has been taken of public views put forward in an earlier consultation on full cost recovery charging.
• A consultation option 1 (no intervention) is not considered realistic, and full cost recovery under option 2 or 3 would be introduced from 1st October 2008.
• You also state (note vi page 3): "These are unlikely to be the only options available. You are invited to make comments on the options presented and to propose others that will deliver the government's objective of full cost recovery. Options that deliver less than full cost recovery will not be considered".
• Considering the above, how can a fait accompli be a consultation?
• May we also point out, as we have said many times before, that keepers and traders are also taxpayers, and in the great scheme of government income and expenditure a total income forecast of approximately £1.5 million is insignificant, and would further suggest savings could be made in many areas of government far exceeding this figure!
• We are extremely concerned at the new charges proposed from 1st October (page 39). These show the UK will top the table at 97 Euros, whereas its current charge is near the bottom. We suggest an increase in line with the current UK inflation rate is more than sufficient, and note Italy as the largest EU cites trader (36.61%) charges 16 Euros. France in second place (24.55%) charges nil, as do another 7 EU states and yet the UK in the third place (12.70%), proposes a huge increase from its current charge of 7/14 Euros!
  

Bryan E. Reed – Hon. Sec.

Copied to: Right Hon. Adrian Bailey
MP Labour and co-operative for West Bromwich West
House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1 0AA.

Dear Fellow Fanciers,

Welcome to the Foreign Bird Federation.

It has been a hard slog to get all the clubs and societies to agree to work together as a federation, but I am pleased to say that we are now moving in the right direction. There has been a lot of discussion regarding the federation, but it seems that much of this discussion has been by people who are not actually in the federation yet.

What we are lacking is input from members / delegates, so I think that our next move forward, is to have a means of being involved and allowing member societies to bring forward suggestions, ideas and anything else that is relevant to their particular branch of the fancy.

We need two delegates from each society to register their details with the FBF Secretary: Mr. Bryan Reed on 01384 258154. This will enable him to respond to any communications from the members.

Sharing details of meetings, including minutes from the NCA, will be important so that feedback can be discussed by the delegates at the following meeting. The four NCA delegates are volunteer members taken from a pool. In effect we will share the tasks of attending the NCA meetings. Two delegates will attend two consecutive meetings to allow continuity. I have said volunteers because, unlike some societies that pay expenses, the federation is not in a position to do this.

If you have anything to communicate at the moment, you can e-mail me at: