[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] [[Page 47316]] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: [email protected]. 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: [email protected]. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Management Authority, Branch of CITES Operations, phone 703/358-2095, fax 703/358-2298, E-mail: [email protected]. 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 [[Page 47317]] 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] BILLING CODE 4310-55-P