| Date: Sun 24-Oct-1993 Paper Page: 17A Publication: Sunday Sun Byline: Anthony Blackman GOVERNMENT IS satisfied with the existing arrangements made for the shipment and treatment of monkeys by the Barbados Primate Research Centre. This assurance was given by the Ministry of Environment following a British Daily Mirror report alleging ill-treatment of green monkeys for shipment from the centre located at Farley Hill, St. Peter to the SmithKline Beecham pharmaceutical company in England. Correspondence from the environment ministry to the Primate Centre, dated September 29, said the Ministry reviewed the article and is satisfied with the existing practices for shipment of the Barbadian Green Monkey. In addition, the Ministry also stated the "trade in monkeys by the Primate Centre is monitored by the Government's Veterinary Officers, who are all members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons." The letter added that all monkeys being exported receive health certificates. It also noted that the trade in green monkeys was not in breach of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), of which Barbados is a signatory. The letter, from the office of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment, said Government categorised the green monkey as "an agricultural pest which causes a high degree of food crop damage."
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