The nation's peak aviculture body is calling on the Federal Government to revisit its laws on the importation of live parrots to reduce bird smuggling.
The importation of exotic birds including the parrot has been banned since 1995, due to disease risk.
The Associated Birdkeepers of Australia is sending a feasibility study to the Federal Government to try to get the regulations reviewed.
The organisation was formed in 1982 when aviculturists thought the authorities were removing the hobby from backyards.
President Craig Jeffrey says it's been decades since the import rules were looked at.
"The risk now is much less than it was several decades ago, simply because we can identify most of the diseases that affect the species coming into the country, so the biodiversity risk is much less than it has been in the past."
Dr Paul Gilchrist is a retired veterinarian specialising in disease.
Since his retirement, he has been continuing to assist people in the importation of birds and fertile eggs.
He says bird smuggling is still common and that's partly due to the government's strict import regulations.
"There is a body within the Federal Department of Agriculture which sets the priorities for examining the conditions for importation, until that body says 'yes, this body has high priority', nothing will happen."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-13/c ... ws/4749388
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