For the past four months I have watched with great interest, and not inconsiderable alarm, the growth of demand from many countries of the world for monkeys for medical purposes.

So serious has been my concern that I feel, out of a duty to the research organisations world-wide, I must bring to their very urgent notice a situation which, if allowed to continue, must eventually -

(1) either raise the price of monkeys to an exorbitant figure, which must inevitably relay back to a restricted source of supply.

(2) the Government of India will carry out their expressed intention of stopping commercial activities in the shipment of animals, either totally banning their exportation of becoming much more restrictive.

In support of this I would like to express my personal views on the situation.

The monkey is, as you all know, a religious animal and as such it will always be a delicate operation to collect and export these animals...

... since the release of the information regarding the production of, in particular, the polio serum, demand from many countries have [sic] been received in India and these demands have been spread throughout all dealers. In consequence a price war has started. The price has leapt to three times its original figure, and if nothing is done to co-ordinate control, there is, as I see it, no limit to the final figure, and the only answer will be to pay the price or discover new methods of producing the serum.

It is literally impossible to emphasise this point to my satisfaction for between twenty and dealers are now bidding against one another in the market for these animals, and the final conclusion must be that what the Indian Government have overcome in other countries by the licensing system, they must overcome in their own country, and this will finally lead to the total banning, or at least severe restriction, of export. The first thoughts have already been emphasised in this connection by the granting of licenses for a definite period, with a stipulation that the research organisations must themeselves co-ordinate and control the Indian end of this business.

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Another major point to be considered is aircraft capacity, on which we have all experienced difficulty recently, and with so many different dealers concerned requesting or guaranteeing capacity from air carriers on specific dates will be virtually impossible, and without control will eventually end in chaos, for once the airlines find the capacity is not taken, they must sell on to more certain markets.

It is strongly recommended that an organisation be formed on an international basis for as much as one dislikes any cartel organisation, we must overcome the problem contained in this precis.

An international organisation dealing with all demands would control and co-ordinate the following:-

1) Price at source. With one central organisation point, this could be controlled on a reasonable and fair basis.

2) The standard and condition of the animals would be finalised before shipment.

3) Aircraft capacity would be simpler and more beneficial to airlines generally.

4) Packing and despatch could be of a highly efficient standard.

5) Criticism in relation to commercial activities would be overcome.

6) The Indian Government's concern would be alleviated and their support assured. With this it is probable a release of news would be made by the Indian Government to simplify the trapping, transport and religious aspects.

7) The cancellation of the individual permit and licensing procedures, the Indian government passing control to the organisation.

8) The problem of trappers' permits to individual localities would be vested with the organisation by inter-state governments.

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Realising the situation, and recognising the importance of the medical research and production being carried on, it is absolutely essential that an organisation be created in India, its main aim being to benefit medical research and production units world-wide, plus the control of price, distribution and the fair meeting of demands originating from many countries. As in my previous paragraph, this recommendation too is supported by the Government of India, and has been emphasised in connection with a stipulation prior to the granting of any further licenses after June, unless the medical research organisations themselves create collection units in India. If each country created a separate unit it would still remain impossible to control the price at source or the inter-bidding that must go on, and eventually we would arrive back at the situation facing the industry today.

Within this recommendation, I am prepared to place myself, together with compound and organisation in India, at its disposal and feel that the benefits would be derived almost immediately after its inauguration.

The prime factor to be decided is that it appears essential for an international meeting to take place to decide the number of animals to be allocated to each country, tied up with the total supply that India can produce - these latter figures I could supply with accuracy - bearing in mind the many holiday periods that have to be faced within India.

It leads also to the possibility of each country arranging for centralised receiving depots for redistribution to meet the separate demands in that country.

The major problem today is the demand by many people, mainly of the small medical research standard, who are not on the licensing list and who are constantly making demands on India. The danger here, presuming that many countries would require other medical research to go forward, is that the licensing control can be so restrictive as to bring these to a close unless the animals can be obtained outside India.

In closing this precis of the situation and recommendations, I have, as a point of interest, discussed this with many senior members of the House of the People of India, and in each case have received enthusiastic responses and assurances of their fullest possible co-operation, and confirmation of my own thoughts that an organisation such as this is essential if the traffic is to continue.'

'Precis - Monkeys for Medical Research

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Since 1954 I personally have shipped approximately 100,000 monkeys out of India and during this period, with the supply position being generally in line with the demand, have been able to maintain a steady flow at what can be considered a reasonable and acceptable cost. ...

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