[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 23, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1780-1782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-811]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service


Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 
Notification; Recommendations From CITES Secretariat on Prohibitions of 
Trade in Certain Animal Species From Fourteen Countries

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Information No. 25.

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SUMMARY: 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. Violators may also be 
subject to criminal or civil prosecution. This Notice of Information is 
an update from the prohibitions contained in NOI 24. Specifically, this 
NOI removes the prohibition on imports of leopard cat from China, and 
adds prohibitions on imports of three species of hinge-back tortoises 
from Ghana and Greek tortoises from Turkey.

DATES: This notice is effective on January 23, 1996. This notice will 
be effective until further notice. The import measures announced in 
this notice shall apply to shipments of wildlife which have a date of 
export or re-export fifteen (15) days after the effective date of this 
notice.

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 Thomas 
L. Striegler, 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 Thomas L. Striegler, 
Special Agent in Charge, Investigations, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Division of Law 

[[Page 1781]]
Enforcement, telephone (703) 358-1949, for enforcement actions.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Article IV, paragraph 2 of the CITES treaty 
allows commercial and noncommercial trade in species listed in CITES 
Appendix II, but 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 regulated so as 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, CITES parties 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 IUCN World Conservation Union. The U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service (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 which was inconsistent with 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 recommend 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.
    During meetings of the Animals Committee in 1992 and 1993, 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 last of these 
meetings, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in March, 1995, the Standing 
Committee directed the Secretariat to issue a formal notice calling for 
a suspension of trade in particular Appendix II species from twelve 
CITES parties.
    Accordingly, on April 21, 1994, January 20, 1995, and August 31, 
1995, the Secretariat issued Notifications to the Parties No. 800, 833, 
and 873, respectively, calling for a suspension of imports of these 
species from the affected countries. Implementation of these 
restrictions is 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 Sec. 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 
Sec. 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 No. 800 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.

                      Summary of U.S. Prohibitions Pursuant to Notices of Information (NOI)                     
   [NOI22: Effective July 30, 1991; NOI23: Effective December 22, 1994; NOI24: Effective June 3, 1995; NOI25:   
                                         Effective Date of Publication]                                         
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                  Country                      NOI No.                            Species                       
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argentina..................................           23  Lama guanicoe.                                        
Azerbaijan.................................           23  Felis lynx.                                           
China......................................           23  Ptyas mucosus.                                        
Ghana......................................           25  Kinixys belliana, K. erosa, K. homeana.               
India......................................           23  Rana tigerina.                                        
                                                          Rana hexadactyla                                      
Indonesia..................................           23  Cacatua sulphurea.                                    
                                                          Ptyas mucosus.                                        
Latvia.....................................           23  Felis lynx.                                           
Lithuania..................................           23  Felis lynx.                                           
Madagascar.................................           24  Coracopsis vasa.                                      

[[Page 1782]]
                                                                                                                
                                                          Chamaeleo spp. (except Chameleo lateralis, C.         
                                                           oustaleti, C. pardalis, C. verrucosus).              
                                                          Phelsuma spp. (except Phelsuma laticauda, P. lineata, 
                                                           P. madagascariensis, P. quadriocellata).             
Moldova....................................           23  Felis lynx.                                           
Peru.......................................           23  Aratinga erythrogenys.                                
Solomon Is.................................           24  Ornithoptera urvillianus.                             
                                                          Ornithoptera victoriae.                               
 Tanzania..................................        23&24  Agapornis fischeri.                                   
                                                          Eryx colubrinus.                                      
                                                          Geochelone pardalis.                                  
                                                          Malacochersus tornieri.                               
                                                          Poicephalus crytoxanthus.                             
                                                          Poicephalus meyeri.                                   
                                                          Poicephalus rufiventris.                              
                                                          Tauraco fischeri.                                     
Thailand...................................           22  All CITES-listed wildlife (animals only).             
Turkey.....................................           25  Testudo graeca.                                       
Ukraine....................................           23  Felis lynx.                                           
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    The subjects of this notice are as follows:
    A. SUBJECT: China: ban on imports of specimens of leopard cat 
(Prionailurus bengalensis)(= Felis bengalensis).
    Source of Foreign Law Information: CITES Secretariat Notification 
to the Parties No. 873, issued on August 31, 1995, calls on Parties to 
lift the suspension of imports of Prionailurus bengalensis (=Felis 
bengalensis) specimens from China.
    Action by the Fish and Wildlife Service: Since the publication of 
Notice of Information No. 24 (60 FR 26897), the Secretariat has 
received information from the Management Authority of China relating to 
its implementation of the recommendations of the Animals Committee on 
significant levels of trade in Prionailurus bengalensis (=Felis 
bengalensis). The Secretariat is satisfied that China has initiated the 
action necessary to implement these recommendations. Therefore, the 
Standing Committee's recommendation to the Parties to suspend imports 
of specimens of Prionailurus bengalensis (=Felis bengalensis) is hereby 
withdrawn.
    B. SUBJECT: Ghana: ban on imports of specimens of Bell's hinge-back 
tortoise (Kinixys belliana), Eroded hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys 
erosa), and Home's hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys homeana).
    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. 873, issued on August 31, 1995, calls on Parties to 
suspend imports of Bell's hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys belliana), 
Eroded hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys erosa), and Home's hinge-back 
tortoise (Kinixys homeana) specimens from Ghana.
    Action by the Fish and Wildlife Service: Based on information 
received, Ghana has not satisfactorily implemented the recommendations 
of the CITES Standing Committee. Specifically, the Management Authority 
of Ghana must advise the CITES Secretariat of the following: that 
export quotas have been established for specimens of Kinixys belliana, 
Kinixys erosa and Kinixys homeana. 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 Bell's hinge-back tortoise 
(Kinixys belliana), Eroded hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys erosa), and 
Home's hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys homeana) may be imported into the 
United States, directly or indirectly, from Ghana, unless an exemption 
in CITES Article VII applies.
    C. SUBJECT: Turkey: ban on imports of specimens of Greek tortoise 
(Testudo graeca).
    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. 873, issued on August 31, 1995, calls on Parties to 
suspend imports of Testudo graeca specimens from Turkey.
    Action by the Fish and Wildlife Service: Based on information 
received, Turkey has not satisfactorily implemented the recommendations 
of the CITES Standing Committee. Specifically, the Management Authority 
of Turkey must advise the CITES Secretariat of the following: that 
export quotas have been established for specimens of Testudo graeca. 
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 Greek 
tortoise (Testudo graeca) may be imported into the United States, 
directly or indirectly, from Turkey, unless an exemption in CITES 
Article VII applies.

    Dated: December 21, 1995.
George T. Frampton, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 96-811 Filed 1-22-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P