Its actually called a CITES permit. CITES is an international agreement that monitors the trade in endangered species. Chameleons are listed on CITES appendix II and as such, all international trade requires permits which are acquired by the exporter. These permits signify that the animal is captive bred, legally collected and imported or otherwise of legal origin and its sale and trade will not negatively impact wild populations. These permits cost money, take a lot of time to obtain and often require a considerable amount of paperwork proving legal origins of founding stock, etc. Additionally, international sales require export licenses in the US, import licenses in the country of import and inspections on both ends. Finally, all international shipping of these animals needs to be via airlines through designated ports of entry. Every piece of the process costs time and money and it is not worth an exporter's (or importer's) time except for considerably large orders.
Chris
