CITES Standing Committee will review progress made in preparing ?and implementing National Ivory Action Plans, domestic legislation, and additional measures to protect Asian big cats, cheetahs, African grey parrots, pangolins, rhinos, sharks and timber
Geneva, January 11, 2016
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the world’s wildlife trade regulator since 1975, starts the new year by attracting close to 500 participants from across the globe to the 66th meeting of its Standing Committee (SC66) to tackle crucial wildlife conservation and management issues affecting the survival of a myriad of wild plants and animals.
Among the high priority issues on the agenda for this week’s meeting in Geneva are the illegal killing of elephants for their ivory and rhinos for their horns and the illegal trade in Asian big cats, pangolins and various high value timber species, including rosewood. SC66 will also address the adequacy of national legislation to implement CITES in 17 priority countries and the lack of submission of annual reports of trade, including whether compliance measures may be necessary. A review of significant volumes of trade in selected species will also be considered by SC66 together with recommendations to ensure the trade in the species concerned is at sustainable level.
The Committee will finalize its recommendations to the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP17) – the triennial World Wildlife Conference, which will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 24 September to 5 October 2016 at which the 181 Parties to CITES will take critical decisions on wildlife trade policy and the scope of regulatory control over international trade in specific species.
Secretary-General of CITES, Mr John E. Scanlon, said: “Tackling illicit wildlife trafficking has risen to the top of the political agenda and a global collective effort is underway to reverse the disturbing trends affecting elephants, rhinos, pangolins, rosewood and other species. 2016 will be a critical year for reviewing the on-ground impacts of our collective endevours, further strengthening policies, budgets, laws and enforcement, as well as enhancing measures to reduce demand for illegal wildlife products, which will all come together at CITES CoP17 in Johannesburg in just 256 days from now.”
“At the same time, we are seeing scaled up efforts to improve legal and sustainable trade, such as through CITES Parties’ concerted efforts to implement CITES listings of sharks.” added Scanlon.
Compliance measures: possible recommendations to suspend trade
During the course of this week, the Standing Committee will consider compliance measures, including recommendations to suspend trade, which will affect a number of Parties. These include:
7 countries may be subject to a recommendation to suspend trade in all CITES-listed species for failing to make sufficient progress in preparing and adopting national legislation to implement and enforce CITES.
20 species – and country specific trade suspensions will be discussed resulting from the ongoing Review of Significant Trade process, which assesses whether the levels of trade that Parties allow for certain wild animals or plants are sustainable. These range from monkeys and pythons from Laos and chameleons from Benin, Cameroon and Ghana, to giant clams from Solomon Islands and corals from Fiji.
the suspension of trade in some high-value timber species from Madagascar: 48 species of Dalbergia (5 rosewoods and 43 palisanders) and 233 species of Diospyros (ebonys)] in consideration of the continued illegal logging and illegal exports.
the suspension of commercial trade in Psittacus erithacus (African grey parrots) from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Some countries may be subject to potential compliance measures for not submitting annual reports on trade in CITES-listed species.
Combating corruption
The issue of corruption will be a matter of discussion at SC66. A number of CITES-listed species are high-value items targeted by organized crime groups, and this makes the officers responsible for regulating trade in specimens of these species potentially vulnerable to corruption. It is becoming increasingly important for CITES Parties to ensure that adequate measures are in place to identify, prevent and address corruption in line with the UN Convention against Corruption.
The changing pattern of international trade from wild to non-wild sources
The proportion of CITES-listed animals species in international trade that are reported as having been bred in captivity, born in captivity or ranched has been steadily increasing over many years. For commercial trade in live animals, it accounted for over half of all reported trade during the period 2000-2012. A similar trend appears to be evident in plant specimens that have been artificially propagated. This trend is expected to continue, particularly if demand for animals and plants remains the same, or increases, with supplies from the wild being increasingly difficult to obtain. However, the impact of this change on the conservation and sustainable use of the species concerned is poorly known and deserves closer analysis.
Declaring specimens as captive bred or artificially propagated has also been used to launder animals and plants illegally sourced from the wild. Delegates will consider proposals for CoP17 designed to improve the implementation of the Convention in relation to specimens of non-wild source.
Strategic Programme of ICCWC
The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) will unveil this week a series of documents and programmes and highlight 5 years’ of achievements in combating wildlife crime.
Elephants
The level of elephant poaching in Africa has declined somewhat since the peak reached 2011, but remains at unsustainably high levels. This trend appears to correlate with population declines in parts of the continent.
The meeting will discuss the progress made in the preparation and implementation of National Ivory Action Plans (NIAPs) by 19 countries (8 Parties of "primary concern", 8 Parties of "secondary concern" and 3 Parties of "importance to watch") identified as most heavily implicated in the illegal trade in ivory including source, transit and destination States. This is a major concrete effort initiated by CITES to address the surge in elephant poaching and the illegal trade in elephant ivory, which has proven to be a successful approach to address a complicated issue
Rhinoceros
Despite considerable efforts to combat rhinoceros poaching and rhinoceros horn trafficking, the number of rhinoceroses killed illegally remains at alarmingly high levels year after year. The activities conducted by key countries will be discussed at SC66. The high value of rhinoceros horn makes it a lucrative and attractive commodity for transnational organized crime groups. It is increasingly important for authorities to deploy the same tools and techniques used to combat other serious domestic and transnational organized crimes such as drugs and arms trafficking, to combat wildlife crime, including rhino poaching and illegal rhino horn trade, targeting those individuals managing and organizing these illegal activities.
Tree species
Parties will be invited to consider strengthening cooperation at all levels, not only among range States, but also with transit and destination countries, to reduce the current levels of illegal trade in these valuable species to the minimum possible. Also, the Secretariat is proposing to continue strengthening capacities worldwide to implement CITES for rosewood, palisanders and ebonies for the next three years after the upcoming CITES CoP17.
Asian big cats
Trafficking in Asian big cats continues to be detected, and further strengthened enforcement efforts are therefore vital to combat illegal trafficking and implementation of existing management practices and controls, to prevent animals coming from captive breeding facilities from entering illegal trade. The Secretariat and the inter-sessional working group on Asian big cats will report on the implementation of a set of decisions and recommendations on Asian big cats adopted at CoP16 and at SC65. Good practices will be highlighted, such as a transnational intelligence-led Operation PAWS II (Protection of Asian Wildlife Species II) initiated by INTERPOL, and India’s legislative framework to prevent Asian big cat parts and derivatives from entering into illegal trade and to manage disposal of specimens from Asian big cats. A set of draft decisions and recommendations to CoP17 will be considered by the Committee, including enforcement measures to disrupt and dismantle the criminal groups involved in trafficking in Asian big cat specimens, the impacts of domestic and international trade in Asian big cat specimens on wild population, captive breeding of Asian big cats and stockpile management.
Cheetah
The first comprehensive study of the global legal and illegal trade in cheetahs, presented to SC65, identified illegal trade as one of the main challenges facing cheetah, a CITES Appendix I species since 1975. Eastern Africa is the region with the highest recorded levels of illegal trafficking in live cheetahs, with the Gulf States being the primary destination. The Standing Committee working group on cheetah has gathered further information from 33 Parties and convened a cheetah workshop in Kuwait in November 2015. Public awareness, enhanced cooperation in law enforcement between East Africa and the Middle East, cooperation on the disposal of confiscated live cheetahs and development of capacity building tools are identified as main solutions to address the issues. The working group is proposing a set of recommendations and draft decisions to CoP17.
Export of Grey parrots from DRC
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is currently the range State with the largest volume of exports of wild-sourced grey parrots. According to trade records reported by importing countries, DRC has exceeded the annual export quota for various consecutive years. There are no recent scientific studies on the status of the DRC populations of grey parrot, which can provide a science base for the establishment of quotas. There are however suggestions that the populations are declining. Furthermore, there exists an alarmingly high rate of mortality (50% or higher) in domestic transport before the export takes place.
In the light of the current situation, the Standing Committee is asked to consider a recommendation for all Parties to suspend commercial trade in grey parrots from DRC until all the concerns and recommendations have been sufficiently addressed.
Pangolins
All Pangolin species (4 Asian and 4 African species) were included Appendix II of CITES in 1994. Since 2000, there has been a zero annual quota for Asian pangolin species. Illegal trade in pangolin specimens is a growing international problem not only affecting Asian pangolin range States, but also those in Africa. A Working Group on Pangolins has been working to formulate recommendations to address the illegal trade in pangolin species, including on monitoring and management, legislation, enforcement, stockpile management, captive breeding, awareness raising, education and demand management. The Working Group will report on its work at SC66.
Snakes
Snakes are bred in high numbers in certain countries to supply the demand for food, skins and pets. The harvesting of snakes, and in some cases the processing of their skins and other body parts, is of economic importance and contributes important revenue to local communities. However, unregulated or unsustainable trade in snakes can pose a significant threat to wild snake populations, and international cooperation is needed to address these threats. In this light, the Standing Committee will consider the drafting of a Resolution on the conservation, sustainable use of and trade in snakes, based on the latest scientific findings. The Committee will also start developing guidance for traceability systems for snake skins.
Sharks
The cooperation between CITES and the fisheries sector has increased greatly as a result of the listing of 5 new commercially valuable species of sharks and all manta rays at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Bangkok 2013). CITES Parties, the public sector as well as the CITES Secretariat, through an EU-CITES funded project, have undertaken a tremendous collective effort to ensure the successful implementation of the listings of these enigmatic species. The capacity building activities of the Secretariat to assist Parties in implementing the new shark listings were recently recognized by the UN General Assembly in its annual resolution on Sustainable Fisheries.
The upcoming Standing Committee was asked by the CITES Animals Committee to discuss several legal, regulatory and enforcement related elements of the new shark listings, among them the traceability of shark products in trade. The Secretariat, in support of this work, commissioned two studies, which are now available on the CITES Sharks Portal.
Traceability
The CITES community has recently seen many references of the need to develop and implement traceability systems, including marking, labelling and tagging systems, through different discussions on species and related issues. These include snakes, queen conch, timber, sharks, and crocodiles, to name a few. The separate emergence of discussions on these species seem to indicate an increasing recognition by the Parties of the need to strengthen the supply chain for specimens of CITES-listed species in international trade.
The importance of traceability, in general, is widely recognized in many different commodity sectors, such as in agri-foods. Many stakeholders already work on developing various systems, standards, and governance of traceability, and a careful consideration is needed to ensure that Parties are able to choose the option that suits them, while avoiding any duplication of efforts.
Delegates will consider whether the issue of traceability of CITES-listed species in international trade could be better defined and consolidated, so as to provide a holistic guidance on the development and implementation of traceability systems for different species and different market chains.
Capacity building
The term ‘capacity building’ is generally used to cover the activities that support the Parties’ enhanced implementation of the Convention. CITES capacity-building activities span across many different countries and regions, and involve a multitude of donors, implementers, experts, and beneficiaries – not all of them are necessarily known to the wider CITES community. Delegates will review whether the range of instructions related to capacity building in the current CITES Resolutions and Decisions could be further rationalized, so that the provision of assistance and exchange of experiences could be improved and the needs of developing country Parties could be better met.
Opening remarks by John E. Scanlon, CITES Secretary General
Sixty-sixth meeting of the Standing Committee
Geneva, January 11, 2016
Thank you Chair and I would like to join with you in wishing everyone a Happy New Year – bonne année , feliz año – and to extend a very warm welcome to the Standing Committee Members, Party Observers, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as the private sector and the media.
We extend a special welcome to the European Union, which has become a Party to CITES since the last time we met and hence joins us today as a Party Observer for the first time.
We have a new record number of participants registered for this Standing Committee meeting. Together with visitors, we expect over 500 people to attend this week’s meeting coming from 77 Parties, 59 intergovernmental organizations, 139 NGOs and 16 private sector organizations.
For those of you who are new to CITES, the 19 members of the Standing Committee are sitting here in the front rows and they are the ones charged with taking the decisions – and all of those seated behind are here as observers!
The days when the Committee would meet in a small office are long gone and as we observed at Standing Committee 65, these meetings are now akin to mini Conferences of the Parties – with long and detailed agendas, many supporting documents, high numbers of participants, multiple side events, and deep media interest. There are close to 150 agenda and sub agenda items, 100 documents adding up to 2,700 pages, and over 30 side events associated with this week’s meeting.
The high level of interest and engagement in the work of our Standing Committee, and in fact all of our committees, is a positive and welcome development and something to be celebrated – but it is also taking its toll on all of us, including the Secretariat.
It is now abundantly clear that this heightened level of interest in CITES is no longer an exception. It is the new norm and it is something we must better plan and budget for into the future.
This week’s agenda addresses critical items dealing with: species under threat from illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade; enhancing the sustainability and traceability of species legally in trade, and reviewing the status of national reporting and legislation as has been outlined by the Chair.
Since we last met in July 2014 the Secretariat has focused a lot of effort on combating illegal wildlife trade, assisting with the implementation of new listings – especially timber, sharks and rays, advancing compliance issues and supporting related capacity building efforts – including with national legislation and NIAPs (National Ivory Action Plans), and on attracting additional resources to support national implementation.
We have also supported two highly successful scientific committee meetings in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Tbilisi, Georgia and I would like to extend our most sincere gratitude to the Government and people of both Israel and Georgia for their generosity, warm hospitality and impeccable arrangements in hosting these highly successful meetings.
When I first addressed this Committee at its 61st meeting in 2011, we noted that CITES was more relevant than ever but that this fact was not yet reflected in the level of political support or financing for the Convention.
At that time, I reported to this Committee that we were engaging in an effort to reach out and better connect CITES to broader policy objectives and to a wider range of partners. Our stated objective was to help the world rediscover the importance of CITES both in its own right and for the contribution that it makes towards other relevant global goals and targets.
There is an old saying: be careful what you wish for!
Today at the 66th meeting of the Committee, we can report that due to the efforts of so many this objective has been achieved – with unprecedented levels of political support being shown for CITES, new and substantial sources of funding becoming available to CITES Parties, and direct support for CITES implementation coming from a wide array of partners both within and outside of the UN system.
This unprecedented level of political, institutional and public interest in CITES issues is now generating the sort of financial and technical support required for those serving in the front lines to effectively implement the Convention – both in combating illicit trafficking and ensuring the legality and sustainability of trade in Appendix II listed species.
This will become apparent as we work through the Agenda but by way of example since our last meeting we have seen:
On enforcement: the value of the International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) was recognized by the UNGA resolution on Tackling Illicit Trafficking in Wildlife adopted last year, with the Consortium delivering practical on ground enforcement support and capacity building world-wide, which will be highlighted in Plenary and two dedicated side events to be held today and on Wednesday in this room.
On financing: in 2011 the Secretariat led the way in encouraging the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to view illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade as a priority issue, with CoP 16 adopting several GEF-related decisions in 2013. In 2015 the GEF Council approved the Global Partnership on Wildlife Conservation and Crime Prevention for Sustainable Development and the Secretariat is helping ensure eligible CITES Parties can access this funding. We are also seeing increased levels of funding from many other donors and philanthropists, and CITES, UNDP, UNEP, UNODC and the World Bank convened the first ever wildlife donor roundtable in late 2015.
On technical support: we have deepened our engagement with OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) on animal health and welfare, the Royal Foundation on transport and IATA (International Air Transport Association) on air transport, UNEP on national legislation, UNDP on supporting implementation of NIAPs (National Ivory Action Plans), the ITC (International Trade Centre) and the WTO on electronic permitting, the World Bank and the Organisation of American States on livelihoods and wildlife based tourism and a vast array of organizations on traceability.
CITES is today an outstanding international example of a convention that is working cooperatively and collaboratively across multiple organizations and disciplines to enhance national implementation – and with organizations dealing with issues as diverse as trade, environment, development, animal health and welfare, enforcement and financing.
In the UN this may be referred to as ‘synergies’ or ‘mainstreaming’ – which we have collectively pursued in a pragmatic and effective manner to best serve the interests of our Parties in meeting their international commitments and which will be addressed under Agenda Items 16, as well as other Items such as Item 34 on Traceability.
CITES is the international legal instrument that underpins these many and varied efforts and the principal role of CITES in regulating international trade in wildlife – both in combating illicit trafficking and facilitating legal, sustainable and traceable trade, has been reaffirmed through multiple declarations and resolutions – from Rio+20 in June 2012, to the UNEA resolution of 2014, the UNGA resolution on Tackling Illicit Trafficking in Wildlife of 2015 and well as through the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as was referred to by the Chair.
The international community now looks to this Committee to support States in their collective efforts to implement CITES, and, where appropriate and necessary, to make use of the compliance measures that the Parties to the Convention have entrusted to this Committee.
As you know, the Secretariat is going through a major transition at the moment with the retirement of five senior staff over the past 12 months and the UN-wide roll out of major new administrative reform initiative known as Umoja – both of which are having major impacts on the Secretariat.
We have many new faces in the Secretariat, and some familiar faces in new roles, which I will elaborate upon under Agenda Item 9.2 but I would like, in my opening address, to publicly express our deep gratitude to two senior staff who retired late last year for their outstanding contribution to CITES over 10 and 15 years respectively, namely Marcos Silva and Marci Yeater.
I would also like to thank you Chair for your generous opening remarks and for your deep commitment to CITES – as always, both you and the Committee have the full support of the Secretariat as the Committee works through the significant Agenda it has before it.
Let me conclude by reminding us that CoP 17 in Johannesburg, South Africa in just 256 days’ away, which I know we are all very much looking forward
