[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 172 (Friday, September 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47316-47317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23843]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Request for Information and Recommendations on Resolutions and
Agenda Items for Consideration at the Eleventh Regular Meeting of the
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Scoping notice; Request for information.
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SUMMARY: This notice is a scoping document that solicits
recommendations for resolutions and agenda items for discussion at 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). We invite you to provide us with information
and recommendations on possible resolutions and agenda items for
discussion at COP11. We also invite your comments on the issue of
transborder movements of live animals for exhibition and on the issue
of the use of product annotations in the CITES Appendices. The CITES
Standing Committee, at its last meeting in March 1998, established
Working Groups to focus on each of these issues and it is possible that
a proposed resolution on each issue may be submitted for consideration
at COP11.
DATES: We will consider all information and comments received by
November 3, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Concerning this request, you should send correspondence
pertaining to resolutions and agenda items to 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. Comments and materials received will be
available for public inspection, by appointment, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, at the Office of Management Authority.
Information on species listing issues or scientific issues pertaining
to CITES is available from 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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:
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 or from the Service's World
Wide Web site http://www.fws.gov/r9dia/applinks.html. Currently, 144
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 second in a series of Federal Register notices which,
together with announced public meetings, provide 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. Our regulations governing this public
process are found in 50 CFR 23.31-23.39.
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 via Notification to the Parties No. 1998/22, dated May 25,
1998, that Indonesia, through Diplomatic Note of April 29, 1998, has
withdrawn 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. The Secretariat informed the Parties
that COP11 is now expected to be held sometime between November 1999
and May 2000. If more than one country offers to host COP11, a decision
on the host country will be made through a postal voting procedure.
Once the Secretariat notifies the CITES Parties of the new host country
of COP11 and the dates when the meeting will be held, we will publish
this information in a future Federal Register notice. We will also post
that information on our World Wide Web site, for your benefit.
Request for Recommendations on Resolutions and Agenda Items
Although we have not yet received formal notice of the provisional
agenda for COP11, we invite your input on possible agenda items the
United States could recommend for inclusion, or on possible resolutions
of the Conference of the Parties that the United States could submit.
Copies of the agenda for the last meeting of the Conference of the
Parties (COP10) in Harare, Zimbabwe, in June 1997, as well as copies of
all resolutions and decisions of the Conference of the Parties
currently in effect, are available from the Office of Management
Authority at the above address. Copies of a list of species proposals
adopted at COP10 are available from the Office of Scientific Authority
at the above address. On June 6, 1997, we published in the Federal
Register (62 FR 31127) a full agenda for COP10 and summaries of all
U.S. negotiating positions on those agenda items and resolutions.
Request for Information and Comments on the Issue of Transborder
Movements of Live Animals for Exhibitions
At COP10, the Parties adopted Decision 10.142, directing the
Secretariat to prepare recommendations on transborder movements of live
animals for exhibition. The recommendations are to be based on
proposals submitted by interested Parties for consideration by the
CITES Standing Committee in 1998, in order to accomplish the following:
(a) Simplify transborder movements of live animals traveling to
other countries for exhibition purposes;
(b) Register and identify live animals used in exhibitions; and
(c) Present documents and animals to appropriate border control
officers when traveling to other countries for exhibition purposes.
At the last meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, held March 3-
6, 1998, in London United Kingdom, the
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Committee agreed to establish a Working Group to focus on the
establishment of simplified procedures for transborder movements of
live animals for exhibition (circuses), as there was no time for
discussion of this issue at the meeting. The members of the Working
Group are the United States (Chair), Germany, and Switzerland. The
United States is to convene the Group, whose work will be carried out
through correspondence. We invite information and comments on this
issue.
Request for Information and Comments on the Issue of the Use of
Product Annotations in the CITES Appendices
The United States is very interested in resolving issues pertaining
to the use of product annotations when transferring populations or
species from CITES Appendix I to II. Product annotations are those
qualifications to the listing of a species that limit commercial trade
in the species, subspecies, or geographically separate population
thereof to specific parts or products of that species that are to be
included in Appendix II. Parts or products of the species that are not
specifically included in the annotation for Appendix II are still
considered to be subject to the treaty provisions and requirements of
Appendix I. Two examples of product annotations are certain populations
of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the vicuna (Vicugna
vicugna).
The United States supports adoption of clear criteria for the use
of such annotations. At COP10, the Parties adopted Decision 10.70,
directed to the CITES Standing Committee, which requires that a report
be presented to COP11 by the Standing Committee on ways to clarify
legal and implementation issues related to the use of annotations in
the Appendices. At its last meeting, the Standing Committee discussed
the issue and agreed to establish a Working Group with the following
members: Switzerland (Chair), Germany, Namibia, and the United States.
The Working Group is expected to submit a draft resolution to the
Standing Committee at the Committee's next meeting, for approval and
submission to COP11. The Working Group members have already agreed that
the starting point will be that any new annotation or any amendment of
an annotation must be in accordance with Resolution Conf. 9.24, and in
accordance with all requirements for proposals to amend the CITES
Appendices. We intend to be an active participant in this process in
order to clarify the criteria to be used for such product annotations,
avoid implementation and enforcement problems, and facilitate species
conservation. We invite information and comments on this issue.
Observers
Article XI, paragraph 7 of CITES provides: ``Any body or agency
technically qualified in protection, conservation or management of wild
fauna and flora, in the following categories, which has informed the
Secretariat of its desire to be represented at meetings of the
Conference by observers, shall be admitted unless at least one-third of
the Parties present object:
(a) International agencies or bodies, either governmental or non-
governmental, and national governmental agencies and bodies; and
(b) National non-governmental agencies or bodies which have been
approved for this purpose by the State in which they are located.
Once admitted, these observers shall have the right to participate
but not to vote.''
National agencies or organizations within the United States must
obtain our approval to participate in COP11, while international
agencies or organizations must obtain approval directly from the CITES
Secretariat. We will publish information in a future Federal Register
notice on how to request approved observer status.
Future Actions
We expect the next regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties
(COP11) to be held sometime between November 1999 and May 2000, in a
host country to be determined. We have developed a tentative U.S.
schedule to prepare for that meeting. 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. In order to accommodate this deadline, we
plan to publish a Federal Register notice approximately 10 months prior
to COP11 to:
(a) Announce the host country and dates of COP11;
(b) Include the provisional agenda; and
(c) 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.
Approximately nine months prior to COP11, we will hold a public
meeting to allow for additional public input. Another Federal Register
notice approximately four months prior to COP11 will announce 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 expected to be sometime between June 1999 and December
1999, as COP11 is currently being planned to take place sometime
between November 1999 and May 2000.
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, and about how to obtain observer status
from us. 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: August 26, 1998.
John G. Rogers,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 98-23843 Filed 9-3-98; 8:45 am]
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