[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 161 (Monday, August 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51441-51443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18049]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008; FXIA16710900000-FF09A30000-223]


Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International 
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Nineteenth 
Regular Meeting; Provisional Agenda; Announcement of Virtual 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 nineteenth regular meeting of the Conference 
of the Parties to CITES (CoP19) in Panama City, Panama, November 14-25, 
2022. Currently, the United States is developing its negotiating 
positions on proposed resolutions, decisions, and amendments to the 
CITES Appendices (species proposals), as well as other agenda items 
that have been submitted by other Parties, the permanent CITES 
committees, and the CITES Secretariat for consideration at CoP19. With 
this notice, we announce the provisional agenda for CoP19, solicit your 
comments on the items on the provisional agenda, and announce a virtual 
public meeting to discuss the items on the provisional agenda.

DATES: Virtual public meeting: The virtual public meeting will be held 
on September 6, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. EDT.
    Comment submission: In developing the U.S. negotiating positions on 
species proposals and proposed resolutions, decisions, and other agenda 
items submitted by other Parties, the permanent CITES committees, and 
the CITES Secretariat for consideration at CoP19, we will consider 
written information and comments you submit if we receive them by 
September 21, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Virtual public meeting: The virtual public meeting will be 
held on the Zoom videoconferencing platform. For more information about 
the meeting, see ``Announcement of Virtual Public Meeting'' under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    Comment submission: You may submit comments pertaining to items on 
the provisional agenda for discussion at CoP19 by one of the following 
methods:
    (1) Electronically: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008 (the docket 
number for this notice).
    (2) U.S. Mail: Submit by U.S. mail to Public Comments Processing; 
Attn: Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 
MS: PRB (JAO/3W); 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    We will not accept email or faxes. Comments and materials we 
receive, as well as supporting documentation, will be available for 
public inspection on https://www.regulations.gov.

[[Page 51442]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information pertaining to 
resolutions, decisions, and other agenda items, contact Naimah Aziz, 
Branch Manager, Division of Management Authority, at 703-358-2028 
(telephone); 703-358-2298 (fax); or [email protected] 
(email). For information pertaining to species proposals, contact 
Rosemarie Gnam, Chief, Division of Scientific Authority, at 703-358-
1708 (telephone); 703-358-2276 (fax); or [email protected] 
(email). Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard 
of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals 
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within 
their country to make international calls to the point of contact in 
the United States.

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 or may be affected 
by trade and are now, or potentially may become, threatened with 
extinction. Species are included in the Appendices to CITES, which are 
available on the CITES Secretariat's website at https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php.
    Currently there are 184 Parties to CITES--183 countries and 1 
regional economic integration organization, the European Union. The 
Convention calls for regular biennial meetings of the Conference of the 
Parties, unless the Conference decides otherwise. At these meetings, 
the Parties review the implementation of CITES, 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, 
as well as resolutions, decisions, and agenda items for consideration 
by all the Parties.
    This is our fourth in a series of Federal Register notices that, 
together with the announced virtual public meeting, provides you with 
an opportunity to participate in the development of U.S. negotiating 
positions for the nineteenth regular meeting of the Conference of the 
Parties to CITES (CoP19). We published our first CoP19-related Federal 
Register notice on March 2, 2021 (86 FR 12199), in which we requested 
information and recommendations on animal and plant species proposals 
and proposed resolutions, decisions, and agenda items for the United 
States to consider submitting for consideration at CoP19. We published 
our second CoP19-related Federal Register notice on March 7, 2022 (87 
FR 12719); that notice described proposed resolutions, decisions, and 
agenda items that the United States might submit for consideration at 
CoP19 and provided information on how U.S. nongovernmental 
organizations can attend CoP19 as observers. In our third CoP19-related 
Federal Register notice, published on April 26, 2022 (87 FR 24577), we 
responded to recommendations received from the public concerning 
proposed amendments to the CITES Appendices (species proposals) that 
the United States might submit for consideration at CoP19 and invited 
public comments and information on these proposals.
    The three prior CoP19 Federal Register notices are in the docket 
(FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008) at https://www.regulations.gov. A link to these 
notices, along with information on U.S. preparations for CoP19, can 
also be found at https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites. Our regulations governing this public process are found in title 
50 of the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 23.87.
    On June 17, 2022, the United States submitted to the CITES 
Secretariat, for consideration at CoP19, its species proposals, 
proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, and other agenda items. These 
documents are listed on the CITES Secretariat's website at https://cites.org/eng/cop19.

Announcement of Provisional Agenda for CoP19

    The provisional agenda for CoP19 is available on the CITES 
Secretariat's website at https://cites.org/eng/cop/19/agenda-documents. 
The working documents associated with the items on the provisional 
agenda, including proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, and 
discussion documents, can be found at that location. To view the 
working document associated with a particular agenda item, locate the 
particular agenda item on the provisional agenda, and click on the 
document link in the column titled ``Files.'' The proposals to amend 
Appendices I and II can be accessed at https://cites.org/eng/cop/19/amendment-proposals/provisional.

Announcement of Virtual Public Meeting

    We will hold a virtual public meeting to discuss the items on the 
provisional agenda for CoP19. The virtual public meeting will be held 
on the date specified in DATES. We will post additional information 
regarding the virtual public meeting on our website at https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites, including how to 
register for the meeting, access the meeting via computer or telephone, 
and indicate if you intend to provide comments during the meeting. The 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is committed to providing access to this 
virtual meeting for all participants, and closed captioning will be 
provided.

Public Comments

    We will not consider comments sent by email or fax or to an address 
not listed in ADDRESSES. If you submit a comment via https://www.regulations.gov, your entire comment, including any personal 
identifying information, will be posted on the website. If you submit a 
hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, you 
may request at the top of your document that we withhold this 
information from public review. However, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so. We will post all hardcopy comments on https://www.regulations.gov.

Future Actions

    Through another notice and website posting in advance of CoP19, we 
will inform you of the tentative U.S. negotiating positions on species 
proposals, proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, and agenda items 
that were submitted by other Parties, the permanent CITES committees, 
and the CITES Secretariat for consideration at CoP19.

Author

    The primary author of this notice is Anne St. John, Division of 
Management Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Signing Authority

    Martha Williams, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
approved this action on August 11, 2022, for publication. On August 16, 
2022, Martha Williams authorized the undersigned to sign the document 
electronically and submit it to the Office of the Federal Register for 
publication as an official document of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.

[[Page 51443]]

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Madonna Baucum,
Chief, Policy and Regulations Branch, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-18049 Filed 8-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P