[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 210 (Tuesday, November 1, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65815-65817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23668]


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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; Tentative U.S. Negotiating Positions for Agenda Items 
and Species Proposals Submitted by Foreign Governments, the Permanent 
CITES Committees, and the CITES Secretariat

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. This notice announces the availability of tentative U.S. 
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 that prior to CoP19 we will 
make available a summary of our proposed negotiating positions and the 
reasons for our proposed positions.

DATES: The nineteenth regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties 
to CITES (CoP19) will be held November 14-25, 2022. Information on 
tentative U.S. negotiating positions on species proposals, draft 
resolutions and decisions, and agenda items will be available on our 
website and the Federal eRulemaking Portal on or before November 13, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: Information on tentative U.S. negotiating positions on 
species proposals, draft resolutions and decisions, and agenda items 
submitted by other countries, the permanent CITES committees, and the 
CITES Secretariat for consideration at CoP19 will be available on our 
website, https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites, 
and via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov 
in Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008 (the docket number for this notice).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information pertaining to 
resolutions,

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decisions, and other agenda items, contact Naimah Aziz, Chief, Division 
of Management Authority; telephone 703-358-2095; email 
[email protected]. For information pertaining to species 
proposals, contact Rosemarie Gnam, Chief, Division of Scientific 
Authority; telephone 703-358-1708; email [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 or may be affected 
by trade and are now, or potentially may become, threatened with 
extinction. These species are included in Appendices to CITES, which 
can be found 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 the permanent 
CITES committees (Standing, Animals, and Plants Committees), and make 
recommendations to improve the 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 at the meetings.

CoP19 Federal Register Notices

    This is our fifth in a series of Federal Register notices on the 
development of U.S. submissions and tentative negotiating positions for 
CoP19. In this notice, we announce the availability of tentative U.S. 
negotiating positions on species proposals, draft resolutions and 
decisions, and agenda items submitted by other Parties, the permanent 
CITES committees, and the Secretariat for consideration at 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. In our fourth CoP19-related Federal 
Register notice, published on August 22, 2022 (87 FR 51441), we 
announced the provisional agenda for CoP19, solicited comments on the 
items on the provisional agenda, and announced a virtual public meeting 
on September 6, 2022.
    A link to the complete list of those Federal Register notices, 
along with information on U.S. preparations for CoP19, can be found at 
https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites. The notices 
and public comments received can be viewed at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008. Our regulations 
governing this public process are found in title 50 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 23.87. Pursuant to 50 CFR 
23.87(a)(3)(iii), with this notice we are announcing that on or before 
November 13, 2022, we will post on https://www.regulations.gov (see 
Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008) and on our website (https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites) a summary of our 
tentative negotiating positions on the items included on the CoP19 
agenda and proposed amendments to the Appendices, and the reasons for 
our tentative positions.

Announcement of Provisional Agenda for CoP19

    The provisional agenda for CoP19 can be accessed 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, are also available on that website. The species 
proposals to be considered at CoP19 are also available on the 
Secretariat's website and can be accessed at https://cites.org/eng/cop/19/amendment-proposals.

Tentative Negotiating Positions

    On or before November 13, 2022, we will post on https://www.regulations.gov (see Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008) and on our 
website (https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites) a 
summary of our tentative negotiating positions on the items included on 
the CoP19 agenda and proposed amendments to the Appendices, and the 
reasons for our tentative positions. Documents submitted by the United 
States either alone or as a co-proponent for consideration by the 
Parties at CoP19 can be found on the Secretariat's website at https://cites.org/eng/meetings/cop. Those documents are: Documents CoP19 Docs. 
29.2.2, 52 (co-sponsored by Canada, C[ocirc]te d'Ivoire, Kenya, Mexico, 
Nigeria, and Senegal), 55, 64.2 (co-sponsored by Brazil, Colombia, 
Costa Rica, and Peru), 66.7 (co-sponsored by Malawi and Senegal), and 
69.2 (co-sponsored by Maldives, Monaco, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Sri 
Lanka, Togo, and the United Kingdom). The United States also submitted 
or co-sponsored the following proposals: Proposals CoP19 Props. 7, 9 
(co-sponsored with Malaysia and Singapore), 10, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 29 
(co-sponsored with Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, 
and Panama), 31, 32, 34 (co-sponsored with Argentina, Brazil, Costa 
Rica, C[ocirc]te d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, 
Gabon, Guinea, Niger, Panama, Peru, and Togo), 42 (co-sponsored with 
European Union and Seychelles), and 45 (co-sponsored with China, 
European Union, Ukraine, and United Kingdom). We will not provide any 
additional explanation of the U.S. negotiating positions for documents 
and proposals that the United States submitted or co-sponsored. The 
introduction in the text of each of those documents includes a 
discussion of the background of the issue and the rationale for 
submitting the document.
    New information that may become available prior to or at CoP19 
could lead to modifications of tentative U.S. positions. The U.S. 
delegation will disclose changes in our negotiating positions and the 
explanations for those changes during public briefings at CoP19. 
Species proposals are considered pursuant to 50 CFR 23.89. The United 
States is concerned about the budgetary implications and workload 
burden that will be placed upon the Parties, the Committees, and

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the Secretariat, and intends to evaluate all proposed resolutions, 
decisions, and other agenda items for CoP19 in view of these concerns.

Information on CoP19 Results

    Information concerning the results of CoP19 will be available after 
the close of the meeting on the Secretariat's website at http://www.cites.org, or upon request from the Division of Management 
Authority (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or on our website 
(https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites).

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 October 19, 2022, for publication. On October 
26, 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.

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. 2022-23668 Filed 10-31-22; 8:45 am]
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