[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 97 (Friday, May 19, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26897-26899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-12371]
[[Page 26897]]
Fish and Wildlife Service
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
Notification; Recommendations From CITES Secretariat Regarding
Prohibitions of Trade in Certain Animal Species From Several Countries
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Information No. 24.
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SUMMARY: This is a schedule III notice. This notice supersedes
paragraph J of Notice of Information Number 23 published in the Federal
Register on December 7, 1994 (59 FR 63101), and adds import
restrictions to those addressed in Notice of Information Number 23.
Wildlife subject to this notice is subject to detention, refusal of
clearance or seizure, and forfeiture if imported into the United
States. Violators may also be subject to criminal or civil prosecution.
On January 20, 1995, the CITES Secretariat issued Notification to
the Parties No. 833 urging Parties to suspend imports of certain animal
species from the following twelve countries: Argentina, Azerbaijan,
China, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Peru, Republic of
Moldova, Solomon Islands, Ukraine, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
That Notification superseded Notification to the Parties No. 800, which
was implemented by the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in Notice of
Information 23. Several of the import suspensions in Notification to
the Parties No. 833 were identical to Notification to the Parties No.
800, three were in addition, and one suspension was removed. The
restrictions on imports of Rana tigerina and Rana hexadactyla from
India, announced in Notice of Information No. 23, paragraph D, continue
in effect even though India is no longer addressed by the Standing
Committee recommendations on significant trade in Appendix II species.
The Secretariat has indicated that India prohibits the harvesting and
export of these species. It recommends that the parties continue to
prohibit the import of such species from India. This notice fully
implements those changes.
Notification was based on a decision made by the CITES Standing
Committee during a meeting held in November, 1994, which asked CITES
Party countries to suspend imports in certain animal species from the
affected countries, and was in addition to decisions made by the
Standing Committee in its meeting on April 21, 1994 (published in the
Federal Register on December 7, 1994). All of these actions were
authorized by CITES Resolution Conference 8.9, adopted at the Eighth
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Kyoto, Japan, in 1992,
which established a procedure for developing remedial actions and
calling for implementation by party countries through import
suspensions, if voluntary compliance by exporting countries is not
satisfactory, and were strongly endorsed in discussions at the Ninth
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
in November, 1994.
DATES: This notice is effective on May 19, 1995, and will be effective
until further notice. The new import measures announced in this notice
shall apply to shipments of wildlife which have a date of export
fifteen (15) days after the effective date of this Notice. The import
restrictions in Notice of Information No. 23, other than the one lifted
herein, remain in effect.
ADDRESSES: Dr. Susan S. Lieberman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Office of Management Authority, 4401 N. Fairfax Dr., room 420C,
Arlington, VA 22203, regarding Notifications to the Parties, or Frank
S. Shoemaker Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Investigations, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Division of Law Enforcement, 4401 N. Fairfax
Drive., room 500, Arlington, VA 22203, for enforcement actions.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Susan S. Lieberman, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Office of Management Authority, telephone (703)358-
2093, regarding Notifications to the Parties, or Frank S. Shoemaker
Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Investigations, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Division of Law Enforcement, telephone (703) 358-1949, for
enforcement actions.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Article IV, paragraph 2(a) of the CITES
treaty allows commercial and noncommercial trade in species listed in
CITES Appendix II. Export permits for such trade may be issued only if
a designated Management Authority of the country has determined that
the specimens were legally acquired, and if a designated Scientific
Authority of that country has advised the Management Authority that the
export will not be detrimental to the survival of the species. Article
IV, paragraph 3 goes on to require that exports of Appendix II species
be limited in any way necessary to ensure that the population level of
a species is consistent with that species' role in its ecosystem and
that the population level of that species be maintained well above the
level where it might qualify for inclusion in Appendix I.
Over the past decade, the CITES party countries have become
increasingly concerned that certain Appendix II species are subject to
particularly high volumes of trade without sufficient biological data
for Scientific Authorities to make the necessary judgments that exports
are not detrimental to the species, as required by Article IV. In 1983,
CITES parties adopted a resolution at the Fourth Conference of the
Parties in Gaborone, Botswana, acknowledging that many parties are not
effectively implementing Article IV and thus risk losing the benefits
of continued availability of these resources. This resolution, Conf.
4.7, established a project to identify Appendix II species involved in
significant levels of international trade, and to develop and negotiate
with exporting and importing countries whatever measures were necessary
to bring trade down to levels consistent with Article IV.
In 1987, at the Sixth Conference of the Parties in Ottawa, Canada,
parties charged the newly established CITES Animals Committee with the
task of establishing a list of Appendix II species being significantly
affected by trade, reviewing all available information, and formulating
remedial measures for these species. The CITES Secretariat coordinated
or contracted for studies to develop lists of mammal, bird, and reptile
species and collect relevant information about these species, in
cooperation with the World Conservation Union (formerly the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources). The Service cooperated with and provided financial support
for a number of these studies.
At the Eighth Conference of the Parties in 1992, in Kyoto, Japan,
CITES parties adopted a resolution developed by the CITES Animals
Committee which recognized that substantial trade in wild-caught
animals was still going on contrary to the provisions of Article IV,
and that necessary remedial measures were not being properly
implemented. This resolution, Conf. 8.9, established a formal process
for the Animals Committee to develop remedial measures, including
``zero quotas'' (that is, temporary trade bans) when appropriate; for
the Secretariat to communicate these recommendations to the exporting
countries; and, where exporting countries do not satisfactorily
implement the measures, for the CITES Standing Committee to call on
parties to suspend imports of these species from the offending
countries until they are in compliance. All of these actions were
strongly endorsed in committee and [[Page 26898]] plenary discussions
at the Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, in November, 1994.
During meetings of the Animals Committee between the Eighth and
Ninth Meetings of the Conference of the Parties, attended by
representatives of the Service, remedial measures were developed and
subsequently communicated to exporting countries by the Secretariat.
The Standing Committee reviewed reports from the Secretariat of
compliance and noncompliance with these remedial measures during three
meetings in 1993 and 1994. The Service represented the United States in
these meetings, with the Department of State. During the Standing
Committee meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, in March, 1994, and Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, in November, 1994, the Standing Committee directed
the Secretariat to issue a formal notice calling for a suspension of
trade in particular Appendix II species from certain CITES parties.
Accordingly, on April 21, 1994, the Secretariat issued Notification
to the Parties number 800, calling for a suspension of imports of
certain species from twelve countries. Implementation of these
restrictions was necessary to stop trade considered to be detrimental
to the survival of the species and thus in contravention of the
requirements of CITES Article IV. CITES parties failing to implement
these trade suspensions would be contributing to the decline of the
affected species, and would be subject to formal citation in the CITES
Infractions Report and possible censure by the CITES Conference of the
Parties.
Pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-
1544), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is granted the authority to
detain, refuse clearance of, or seize any fish or wildlife or plants
that are imported into the United States in violation of CITES.
Regulations contained in 50 CFR 14.53(c) indicate that refusal of
clearance of imported wildlife is warranted if there are reasonable
grounds to believe that documentation for the clearance of such
wildlife is not valid. Similarly, regulations contained in 50 CFR
23.12(a)(2) require that all imports of Appendix II wildlife into the
United States be accompanied by a valid foreign export permit or re-
export certificate, unless an exemption applies. The Service agrees
with Notification to the Parties numbers 800 and 833 and believes that
any permits issued for the indicated species by the affected countries
are not valid because required findings of ``non-detriment'' and/or
lawful acquisition have not been credibly demonstrated by the exporting
countries in light of the significant trade level in particular
Appendix II species.
Notification to the Parties number 833 incorporates all of the
recommendations of Notification to the Parties number 800, with the
following changes: (1) The trade suspension for ball pythons from Togo
is lifted; (2) the trade suspension for the United Republic of Tanzania
is amended to include six additional species; (3) a trade suspension is
implemented for several species from Madagascar; and (4) a trade
suspension is implemented for two butterfly species from Solomon
Islands.
The subjects of this notice are as follows:
A. Subject
Togo: ban on imports of specimens of ball python (Python regius).
Source of Foreign Law Information
CITES Secretariat Notification to the Parties No. 833, issued on
January 20, 1995, calls on Parties to lift the suspension of imports of
Python regius specimens from Togo.
Action by the Fish and Wildlife Service
Since the publication of Notice of Information No. 23 (59 FR
63101), the Secretariat has received information from the Management
Authority of Togo relating to its implementation of the recommendations
of the Animals Committee on significant levels of trade in Python
regius. The Secretariat is satisfied that Togo has initiated the action
necessary to implement these recommendations. Therefore, the Standing
Committee's recommendation to the Parties to suspend imports of
specimens of Python regius is hereby withdrawn, and shipments of
specimens of Python regius may be imported into the United States,
directly or indirectly, from Togo, as long as all applicable CITES
requirements and Service import requirements are met.
B. Subject
United Republic of Tanzania: ban on imports of specimens of Brown-
headed Parrot (Poicephalus cryptoxanthus), Brown Parrot (Poicephalus
meyeri), Red-bellied Parrot (Poicephalus rufiventris), Fischer's Turaco
(Tauraco fischeri), Leopard tortoise (Geochelone pardalis), and Sand
boa (Eryx colubrinus).
This is a Schedule III Notice
Wildlife subject to this notice is subject to detention, refusal of
clearance, or seizure and forfeiture if imported into the United
States.
Source of Foreign Law Information
CITES Secretariat Notification to the Parties No. 833, issued on
January 20, 1995, calls on Parties to suspend imports of Brown-headed
Parrot (Poicephalus cryptoxanthus), Brown Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri),
Red-bellied Parrot (Poicephalus rufiventris), Fischer's Turaco (Tauraco
fischeri), Leopard tortoise (Geochelone pardalis), and Sand boa (Eryx
colubrinus) specimens from the United Republic of Tanzania.
Action by the Fish and Wildlife Service
Based on information received, the United Republic of Tanzania has
not satisfactorily implemented the recommendations of the CITES
Standing Committee. Specifically, the Management Authority of the
United Republic of Tanzania must advise the CITES Secretariat of the
following: The biological basis for determining that exports of
specimens of Poicephalus cryptoxanthus, Poicephalus meyeri, Poicephalus
rufiventris, Geochelone pardalis, and Eryx colubrinus will not be
detrimental to the survival of the species; the establishment and level
of an annual export quota for Tauraco fischeri; the legal protection
status of Geochelone pardalis; and the status of wild populations of
Eryx colubrinus in the United Republic of Tanzania. Therefore, in
accordance with the responsibility of the United States under CITES,
and effective immediately and until further notice from the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, no shipments of specimens of Brown-headed Parrot
(Poicephalus cryptoxanthus), Brown Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri), Red-
bellied Parrot (Poicephalus rufiventris), Fischer's Turaco (Tauraco
fischeri), Leopard tortoise (Geochelone pardalis), and Sand boa (Eryx
colubrinus) may be imported into the United States, directly or
indirectly, from the United Republic of Tanzania, unless an exemption
in CITES Article VII applies. This is in addition to the import
prohibitions of Notice of Information No. 23, paragraph L, (59 FR
63101, 63104-05). Furthermore, the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992
already prohibits the importation of specimens of Brown-headed Parrot
(Poicephalus cryptoxanthus), Brown Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri), Red-
bellied Parrot (Poicephalus rufiventris), and Fischer's Turaco (Tauraco
fischeri) without the required permits being issued by the Service.
C. Subject
Madagascar: ban on imports of specimens of Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis
[[Page 26899]] vasa), Chameleons (Chamaeleo spp.)(except Chamaeleo
lateralis, Chamaeleo oustaleti, Chamaeleo pardalis and Chamaeleo
verrucosus), and Day geckos (Phelsuma spp.)(except Phelsuma laticauda,
Phelsuma lineata, Phelsuma madagascariensis, and Phelsuma
quadriocellata).
This is a Schedule III Notice
Wildlife subject to this notice is subject to detention, refusal of
clearance or seizure, and forfeiture if imported into the United
States.
Source of Foreign Law Information
CITES Secretariat Notification to the Parties No. 833, issued on
January 20, 1995, calls on Parties to suspend imports of Vasa Parrot
(Coracopsis vasa), Chameleons (Chamaeleo sp.)(except Chamaeleo
lateralis, Chamaeleo oustaleti, Chamaeleo pardalis and Chamaeleo
verrucosus), and Day geckos (Phelsuma sp.)(except Phelsuma laticauda,
Phelsuma lineata, Phelsuma madagascariensis, and Phelsuma
quadriocellata) specimens from Madagascar.
Action by the Fish and Wildlife Service
Based on information received, Madagascar has not satisfactorily
implemented the recommendations of the CITES Standing Committee.
Specifically, the Management Authority of Madagascar must advise the
CITES Secretariat of the following: The biological basis for
determining that exports of Coracopsis vasa, Chamaeleo sp. (except
Chamaeleo lateralis, Chamaeleo oustaleti, Chamaeleo pardalis, and
Chamaeleo verrucosus), and Phelsuma sp. (except Phelsuma laticauda,
Phelsuma lineata, Phelsuma madagascariensis, and Phelsuma
quadriocellata) will not be detrimental to the survival of the species;
the suspension of exports of Chamaeleo sp. and Phelsuma sp. (except
those species previously indicated) pending the establishment of
scientifically-based sustainable harvest quotas; evidence that CITES
implementation is improving by regular submission of copies of export
permits issued; evidence to indicate that export permits will only be
issued that indicate the species involved in a given consignment; and
evidence to confirm the implementation of a system to verify the
identification of specimens of Chamaeleo sp. and Phelsuma sp. in
consignments before they are exported. Therefore, in accordance with
the responsibility of the United States under CITES, and effective
immediately and until further notice from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, no shipments of specimens of Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis vasa),
Chameleons (Chamaeleo sp.)(except Chamaeleo lateralis, Chamaeleo
oustaleti, Chamaeleo pardalis and Chamaeleo verrucosus), and Day geckos
(Phelsuma spp.)(except Phelsuma laticauda, Phelsuma lineata, Phelsuma
madagascariensis, and Phelsuma quadriocellata) may be imported into the
United States, directly or indirectly, from Madagascar, unless an
exemption in CITES Article VII applies. In addition, the Wild Bird
Conservation Act of 1992 already prohibits the importation of specimens
of Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis vasa) without the required permits being
issued by the Service.
D. Subject
Solomon Islands: ban on imports of specimens of Bird Wing
Butterflies (Ornithoptera urvillianus) and (Ornithoptera victoriae)
This is a Schedule III Notice
Wildlife subject to this notice is subject to detention, refusal of
clearance or seizure, and forfeiture if imported into the United
States.
Source of Foreign Law Information
CITES Secretariat Notification to the Parties No. 833, issued on
January 20, 1995, calls on Parties to suspend imports of Bird Wing
Butterfly (Ornithoptera urvillianus) and (Ornithoptera victoriae)
specimens from the Solomon Islands.
Action by the Fish and Wildlife Service
Based on information received, the Solomon Islands has not
satisfactorily implemented the recommendations of the CITES Standing
Committee. Specifically, the Management Authority of the Solomon
Islands must advise the CITES Secretariat of the following: the
biological basis for determining that exports of Ornithoptera
urvillianus and Ornithoptera victoriae will not be detrimental to the
survival of the species. Therefore, in accordance with the
responsibility of the United States under CITES, and effective
immediately and until further notice from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, no shipments of specimens of Bird Wing Butterflies
(Ornithoptera urvillianus) and (Ornithoptera victoriae) may be imported
into the United States, directly or indirectly, from the Solomon
Islands, unless an exemption in CITES Article VII applies.
Dated: May 15, 1995.
George T. Frampton,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 95-12371 Filed 5-18-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
