WASHINGTON, D.C. September 3, 2022 The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that effective immediately game birds taken by hunters in Canada will not be permitted to enter the United States regardless of the province in which they were taken. This reverses a statement a week ago that imports would only be restricted on birds taken in Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza priority control zones.

The statement was issued at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, September 2, 2022, leading into the Labor Day holiday weekend. This last-minute, after-hours, notice is a disturbing development. Waterfowl hunting seasons in a number of Canadian provinces opened on September 1, meaning American citizens currently hunting north of the border may be unaware the ducks and geese they are taking wont be allowed back in the U.S.

"Hunters are left to wonder why APHIS would reverse course on such a consequential decision, announced after hours on a holiday weekend, with zero notice or opportunity to be heard from stakeholders," said Ducks Unlimited CEO Adam Putnam. "DU members are justifiably upset by the absence of science and the total lack of transparency around this sweeping regulation that does not appear to have even included the US Fish and Wildlife Service in its development."

Ducks Unlimited has issued a letter to USDA APHIS administrator Keven Shea protesting this policy change and requesting immediate reconsideration of the decision.

The statement of the USDA APHIS restriction on hunter-harvested wild game bird meat from Canada can be viewed here.

For more information, visit www.ducks.org, and be sure to Follow DUs Twitter feed @DucksUnlimited and @DUConserve to get the most up-to-date news from Ducks Unlimited.

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 15 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.