[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 38 (Friday, February 26, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9523-9524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-4834]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Announcement of the Time and Place of the Eleventh Regular
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES); Announcement of the Times and Places of the Next Meetings of
the CITES Plants and Animals Committees; Announcement of Public Meeting
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the time and place of the eleventh
regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES). This notice also announces that the next meeting of
the CITES Plants Committee will be held June 7-11, 1999, in Darwin,
Australia, and the next meeting of the CITES Animals Committee will be
held July 5-9, 1999, in Madagascar. A public meeting will be held to
discuss issues that will be raised at the next meetings of the CITES
Plants and Animals Committees.
DATES: The public meeting will be held on May 6, 1999, from 2:00 p.m.
to 4:00 p.m. For COP11 and Committee meeting dates, see the
Supplementary Information section of this notice.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 200 of the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service Arlington Square building at 4401 N. Fairfax
Drive, Arlington, VA 22203.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Scientific Authority, phone
703/358-1708, fax 703/358-2276, E-mail: r9osa@mail.fws.gov; or Office
of Management Authority, Branch of CITES Operations, phone 703/358-
2095, fax 703/358-2298, E-mail: r9oma__cites@mail.fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arlington
Square building is accessible to the handicapped. Persons requiring
interpretation for the hearing impaired should notify the Office of
Scientific Authority as soon as possible, so that arrangements can be
made. You may obtain directions to the building or other information on
the Plants and Animals Committees by contacting the Office of
Scientific Authority; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 North
Fairfax Drive; Room 750; Arlington, Virginia 22203, or via E-mail at:
r9osa@mail.fws.gov. You may obtain logistical information on COP11 by
contacting the Office of Management Authority; U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service; 4401 North Fairfax Drive; Room 700; Arlington, Virginia 22203,
or via E-mail at: r9oma__cites@mail.fws.gov.
Background
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora, TIAS 8249, hereinafter referred to as CITES, is an
international treaty designed to control and regulate international
trade in certain animal and plant species that are now or potentially
may be threatened with extinction. These species are listed in
Appendices to CITES, copies of which are available from the Office of
Management Authority at the above address, from the Service's World
Wide Web site http://www.fws.gov/r9dia/applinks.html, or from the
official CITES Web site at http://www.wcmc.org.uk/CITES/english.
Currently, 145 countries, including the United States, are Parties to
CITES. CITES calls for biennial meetings of the Conference of the
Parties, which review its implementation, make provisions enabling the
CITES Secretariat in Switzerland to carry out its functions, consider
amendments to the list of species in Appendices I and II, consider
reports presented by the Secretariat, and make recommendations for the
improved effectiveness of CITES. Any country that is a Party to CITES
may propose amendments to Appendices I and II, resolutions, or agenda
items for consideration by the other Parties.
This is our third in a series of Federal Register notices which,
together with announced public meetings, provides you with an
opportunity to participate in the development of the United States'
negotiating positions for the eleventh regular meeting of the
Conference of the Parties to CITES (COP11). We published our first such
Federal Register notice on January 30, 1998 (63 FR 4613), and with it
we requested your information and recommendations on potential species
amendments for the United States to consider submitting for discussion
at COP11. Information on that Federal Register notice, and on species
amendment proposals, is available from the Office of Scientific
Authority at the above address. We published our second such Federal
Register notice on September 4, 1998 (63 FR 47316), and with it we
requested your information and recommendations on potential resolutions
and agenda items for the United States to consider submitting for
discussion at COP11. You may obtain information on that Federal
Register notice, and on proposed resolutions and agenda items, from the
Office of Management Authority at the above address. You may locate our
regulations governing this public process in 50 CFR Secs. 23.31-23.39.
The CITES Animals and Plants Committees are technical committees
established by the CITES Conference of the Parties. They meet to
discuss scientific and technical issues pertaining to CITES
implementation for animals and plants, respectively.
The Animals Committee provides scientific expertise on animal-
related issues, develops and maintains a standardized list of animal
species, reviews trade impacts on heavily traded Appendix II species;
and analyzes and makes recommendations to the CITES Parties on a number
of issues directed to it by the Conference of the Parties. The
Committee meets several times between COPs (usually once a year) to
work on resolving CITES animal related issues carried over from past
Animals Committee meetings and COPs, as well as identifying new issues
in need of resolution. The members of the Animals Committee are
individuals with scientific and technical expertise selected by the
countries in each of the six CITES geographic regions. The regional
representative for North America (selected by the United States,
Canada, and Mexico) is Dr. Susan Lieberman, Chief of the Office of
Scientific Authority (OSA). She is also the Vice-Chair of the Animals
Committee. A list of other regional representatives is available upon
request from OSA. The Chair of the Animals Committee is Hank Jenkins,
with the Government of Australia, and the regional representative for
Oceania. The
[[Page 9524]]
next meeting of the Animals Committee will be July 5-9, 1999, in
Madagascar. Non-governmental organizations wishing to attend must
obtain approval from the Chair of the Committee. Interested
organizations should contact Dr. Jenkins directly; his address and
contact information are available upon request from OSA (see the For
Further Information Contact section of this notice), or directly from
the CITES Secretariat.
The Plants Committee provides scientific expertise on plant
species, develops and maintains a standardized list of plant species,
reviews trade impacts on species of particular concern, and analyzes
and makes recommendations to the CITES Parties on a number of issues
directed to it by the Conference of the Parties. It meets several times
between COPs (usually once a year) to work on resolving CITES plant
related issues carried over from past Plants Committee meetings and
COPs, as well as identifying new issues in need of resolution. The
members of the Plants Committee are individuals with scientific and
technical expertise selected by the countries in each of the six CITES
geographic regions. The regional representative for North America
(selected by the United States, Canada, and Mexico) is Dr. Bertrand von
Arx, with the Government of Canada. A list of regional representatives
is available upon request from OSA (see the For Further Information
Contact section of this notice). The Chair of the Plants Committee is
Dr. Margarita Clemente Munoz, with the Government of Spain. The next
meeting of the Plants Committee will be June 7-11, 1999, in Darwin,
Australia. Non-governmental organizations wishing to attend must obtain
approval from the Chair of the Committee. Interested organizations
should contact Dr. Clemente Munoz directly; her address and contact
information are available upon request from OSA (see the For Further
Information Contact section of this notice), or directly from the CITES
Secretariat.
The United States is an active participant in all CITES matters and
attends both the Plants and Animals Committee meetings. The U.S.
delegation to the Animals Committee meeting will be comprised of
representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National
Marine Fisheries Service. The U.S. delegation to the Plants Committee
meeting is expected to include representatives of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.
Announcement of the Eleventh Regular Meeting of the Conference of
the Parties
The eleventh regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties to
CITES (COP11) will be held at the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, April 10-20, 2000. The CITES
Secretariat will host the meeting.
In our Federal Register notice of January 30, 1998 (63 FR 4613), we
announced that we expected COP11 to be held in November 1999, in
Indonesia. Since the publication of that notice, the CITES Secretariat
informed us and all Party countries via Notification to the Parties No.
1998/22, dated May 25, 1998, that Indonesia, through Diplomatic Note of
April 29, 1998, withdrew from hosting COP11. As a result, the
Secretariat invited Parties that might be interested in hosting COP11
to indicate this to the Secretariat by June 20, 1998. In Notification
to the Parties No. 1998/55, dated October 30, 1998, the Secretariat
announced that, since no CITES Party was in a position to host COP11,
UNEP agreed to make its Conference Centre available for this meeting.
Issues at the Next Meetings of the Plants and Animals Committees
We expect to obtain draft agendas for the meetings of the two
committees in early Spring, 1999. Copies of the agendas of the previous
meetings are available upon request from OSA. Some of the many issues
to be discussed at the Animals Committee meeting include:
implementation of CITES, particularly scientific non-detriment findings
for heavily traded ``significant trade'' species; implementation of
CITES for animals that are bred in captivity; transport of live
animals; marking of sturgeon specimens (particularly caviar); tagging
of crocodilians; ranching; trade in coral; international trade in
sharks; invasive species; marking of animals, including the use of
microchips; and the use of CITES-listed species in traditional
medicines.
Some of the many issues to be discussed at the Plants Committee
meeting include: review of selected plant species included in the
Appendices in light of the new CITES listing criteria (Resolution Conf.
9.24); implementation of the inclusion of bigleaf mahogany (Swietenia
macrophylla) in Appendix III; other timber-related issues; and the
definition of artificial propagation.
Future Actions
We have developed a tentative U.S. schedule to prepare for COP11.
The United States must submit any proposals to amend Appendix I or II,
or any draft resolutions or agenda items for discussion at COP11, to
the CITES Secretariat 150 days prior to the start of the meeting (i.e.
by November 12, 1999). In order to accommodate this deadline, we plan
to publish a Federal Register notice approximately 10 months prior to
COP11 (approximately June, 1999) to:
(a) Provide the provisional agenda of COP11;
(b) Announce tentative species proposals, draft resolutions, and
agenda items to be submitted by the United States, and to solicit
further information and comments on them; and
(c) Provide information on how to obtain approval to attend COP11
as an observer.
Approximately nine months prior to COP11 (approximately July 1999),
we will hold a public meeting to allow for additional public input. We
will announce in another Federal Register notice approximately four
months prior to COP11 our decisions on those species proposals,
resolutions, and agenda items submitted by the United States to the
CITES Secretariat. The deadline for submission of the proposals,
resolutions, and agenda items to the Secretariat is November 12, 1999.
Through a series of additional notices in advance of COP11, we will
inform you about preliminary and ``final'' negotiating positions on
resolutions and amendments to the Appendices proposed by other Parties
for consideration at COP11. We will also publish announcements of
public meetings expected to be held approximately nine months prior to
COP11, and approximately two months prior to COP11, to receive public
input on our positions regarding COP11 issues.
Author: This notice was prepared by Mark Albert, Office of
Management Authority, under the authority of U.S. Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: February 2, 1999.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director.
[FR Doc. 99-4834 Filed 2-25-99; 8:45 am]
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