[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: [email protected]; or Office 
of Management Authority, Branch of CITES Operations, phone 703/358-
2095, fax 703/358-2298, E-mail: [email protected].

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: 
[email protected]. 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: [email protected].

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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