Dear Breeders, SPECIFICALLY DERBY ARONA PARTICIPANTS, ALGARVE GOLDEN RACE PARTICIPANTS, & ALGARVE GREAT DERBY RACE PARTICIPANTS: YOUR BIRDS ARE DEPARTING SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SUNDAY MORNING, SEPT 27th, and will arrive in Tenerife on or around Sept 30th. The EU has approved our CITES application today, which means we can ship the birds out on schedule, and they can legally enter the EU upon arrival. They are really cracking down on this process, as other shippers are finding more and more challenges with shipping birds out of the USA. Some are getting out of it completely, as EU is not approving them. We are going above and beyond what the EU requires, so that we can continue to safely ship your birds to the various races we service. We are on their good side, and plan to keep it that way.  I’m closely working with our National Office to secure another special and rather difficult certification that allows us to move birds throughout the EU with little restrictions. The negotiators at The USDA are working closely with the EU regulators on this project. We probably won’t know if we are approved for another few months, since the EU does not meet regularly for these special approvals. This CITES approval for Spain was a very close call, as some applications have been taking up to 3 months for approval..... for exotic birds, parrots, etc, it’s taking anywhere from 3 months up to as long as 6 months! We have our final inspection and sign-off with the USDA this morning. Our Board Certified Avian Vet is very pleased with the quality of all of the birds in this group, and they do look great, and are very strong! We have a total of (220) on this shipment.  FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BIRDS PARTICIPATING IN THE ALGARVE GOLDEN RACE & ALSO THE ALGARVE GREAT DERBY RACE, BEST OF LUCK ON THE FINAL!!! The Algarve Golden Race Final takes place on September 26th, with over 3,000 birds headed to the final! If you haven’t participated in this race, mark it on your list for 2021! It’s a very good race to a be part of! The Algarve Great Derby will have their final on September 28th. Regarding the Thailand Races.... NONG CHOK has already started their training, so you can follow those results on the Benzing website. PATTAYA will start their training around the first week of October, from what I’m being told by the administration. Exciting times ahead as the USA participation numbers are very strong in these growing international races overseas.   I want to thank you for supporting our services,  and want to wish you the best of success on these final races of the season.   Sincerely, Daniel Hash Avian Export Services