[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 20, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53962-53964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21074]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International 
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Twelfth 
Regular Meeting; Announcement of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The United States, as a Party to the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 
(CITES), will attend the twelfth regular meeting of the Conference of 
the Parties to CITES (COP12) in Santiago, Chile, November 3-15, 2002. 
Currently, the United States is developing its negotiating positions on 
proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, agenda items, and proposed 
amendments to the CITES Appendices submitted by other countries and the 
CITES Secretariat for consideration at COP12. With this notice we 
announce a public meeting to discuss the tentative U.S. negotiating 
positions on these proposals and agenda items.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on September 10, 2002, at 1:30 
p.m. In developing the U.S. negotiating positions on proposed 
resolutions, proposed decisions, agenda items, and species amendment 
proposals submitted by other countries and the CITES Secretariat for 
consideration at COP12, we will consider written information and 
comments you submit if we receive them by October 4, 2002.

ADDRESSES:

Public Meeting

    The public meeting will be held in Sidney Yates Auditorium, in the 
Department of the Interior at 18th and C Streets, NW., Washington, DC. 
Directions to the building can be obtained by contacting the Division 
of Management Authority (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, below).

Available Information

    Information concerning the tentative U.S. negotiating positions for 
COP12 is available upon request from the Division of Management 
Authority; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 North Fairfax Drive; 
Room 700; Arlington, VA 22203. Effective on or about September 3, 2002, 
this information will also be available from our World Wide Website 
(http://international.fws.gov/cop12/cop12.html) and via our Faxback 
system. You may obtain the information

[[Page 53963]]

via the Faxback system by dialing 703/358-2400, our Faxback telephone 
number, following the automated instructions, and entering Document 
Number 5054 when prompted to enter a document number.

Comment Submission

    Comments pertaining to proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, 
and/or agenda items should be sent to the Division of Management 
Authority; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 North Fairfax Drive; 
Room 700; Arlington, VA 22203, or via E-mail at: [email protected], or via 
fax at: 703/358-2298. Comments pertaining to species amendment 
proposals should be sent to the Division of Scientific Authority; U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 North Fairfax Drive; Room 750; 
Arlington, VA 22203, or via E-mail at: [email protected], or 
via fax at: 703/358-2276. Comments and materials received will be 
available for public inspection, by appointment, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, at either the Division of Management Authority 
or the Division of Scientific Authority.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrea Gaski, Division of Management 
Authority, Branch of CITES Operations, phone: 703/358-2095, fax: 703/
358-2298, E-mail: [email protected]; or Robert R. Gabel, Division of 
Scientific Authority, phone: 703/358-1708, fax: 703/358-2276, E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild 
Fauna and Flora, hereinafter referred to as CITES or the Convention, 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 if their trade is not controlled. 
These species are listed in Appendices to CITES, copies of which are 
available from the Division of Management Authority or the Division of 
Scientific Authority at the above addresses, from our World Wide 
Website at http://international.fws.gov/cites/cites.html, or from the 
official CITES Secretariat Website at http://www.cites.org/eng/append/index.shtml. Currently, 158 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 and vote on amendments to 
Appendices I and II, resolutions, decisions, and agenda items for 
consideration by the Conference of the Parties.
    This is our fifth in a series of Federal Register notices that 
provide you with an opportunity to participate in the development of 
the United States' negotiating positions for COP12. We published our 
first such Federal Register notice on June 12, 2001 (66 FR 31686), and 
with it we requested information and recommendations on potential 
species amendments for the United States to consider proposing at 
COP12. Information on that Federal Register notice, and on species 
amendment proposals, is available from the Division of Scientific 
Authority at the above address. We published our second such Federal 
Register notice on July 25, 2001 (66 FR 38739), and with it we 
requested information and recommendations on potential resolutions, 
decisions, and agenda items for the United States to submit for 
consideration at COP12. You may obtain information on that Federal 
Register notice, and on proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, and 
agenda items, from the Division of Management Authority at the above 
address. We published our third such Federal Register notice on March 
27, 2002 (67 FR 14728), and with it we announced a public meeting to 
discuss potential species amendment proposals, proposed resolutions, 
proposed decisions, and agenda items that the United States is 
considering submitting for consideration at COP12. With that notice, we 
also provided information on how non-governmental organizations based 
in the United States can attend COP12 as observers. You may obtain 
information on that Federal Register notice from the Division of 
Management Authority at the above address. We published our fourth such 
Federal Register notice on April 18, 2002 (67 FR 19207), and with it we 
listed potential proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, agenda 
items, and proposed amendments to the CITES Appendices that the United 
States was considering submitting for consideration at COP12, and 
invited your comments on these potential proposals. You may obtain 
information on that Federal Register notice from the Division of 
Management Authority (for information pertaining to proposed 
resolutions, proposed decisions, and agenda items) or the Division of 
Scientific Authority (for information pertaining to proposed amendments 
to the Appendices) at the above addresses. On June 6, 2002, the United 
States submitted to the CITES Secretariat, for consideration at COP12, 
its proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, agenda items, and 
proposed amendments to the CITES Appendices. These documents are 
available from our World Wide Website at: http://international.fws.gov/cop12/ussubmission.html. You may locate our regulations governing this 
public process in 50 CFR 23.31-23.39.
    COP12 is scheduled to be held in Santiago, Chile, November 3-15, 
2002.

Announcement of Public Meeting

    We announce that we will hold a public meeting to discuss with you 
the tentative U.S. negotiating positions on proposed resolutions, 
proposed decisions, agenda items, and proposed amendments to the CITES 
Appendices submitted by other countries and the CITES Secretariat for 
consideration at COP12. The public meeting will be held on September 
10, 2002, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Sidney Yates Auditorium of the 
Department of the Interior at 18th and C Streets, NW., Washington, DC. 
You can obtain directions to the building by contacting the Division of 
Management Authority (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above). 
Sidney Yates Auditorium is accessible to the handicapped. Persons 
planning to attend the meeting who require interpretation for the 
hearing impaired should notify the Division of Management Authority as 
soon as possible. All persons planning to attend the meeting will be 
required to present photo identification when entering the building.

Future Actions

    We are planning to soon publish a Federal Register notice 
announcing the provisional agenda for COP12 and informing you about 
tentative U.S. negotiating positions on proposals to amend the 
Appendices, proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, and other agenda 
items before the Parties for consideration at COP12.
    Author: The primary author of this notice is Mark Albert, Division 
of Management Authority; under the authority of the U.S. Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).


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    Dated: July 24, 2002.
Marshall P. Jones, Jr.,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 02-21074 Filed 8-19-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P