Committee II is undertaking the fundamental business of CITES including budget and implementation issues, decisions and resolutions. The species proposals are being considered in Committee I, however, there are important decisions and resolutions being considered in Committee II that may impact species that are of high priority for the U.S.
On Wednesday, March 17, Committee II began review of all of the decisions previously adopted at Conference of the Parties to provide the Parties with updates. The Parties discussed the importance of national laws in place to ensure effective implementation of CITES and enforcement issues related to CITES listed species. The Committee heard reports on CITES efforts to conserve great apes. The only vote entertained by the Committee on Wednesday was a vote on whether the Parties should retain a decision previously adopted by the Parties that reads, “No periodic review of any great whale, including the fin whale, should occur while the moratorium by the International Whaling Commission is in place.” The United States strongly supports the retention of this decision in order to ensure that the trade protections afforded by CITES for whales remain in place as long as an international moratorium on whaling is retained. The final vote was 24 parties voted to delete the decision, 46 parties voted to retain the decision, and 9 parties voted to abstain.
On Thursday, March 18, the Committee considered several important decisions related to Asian Big Cats and Rhinoceros. Agenda Item 43.1 – Deals with a report of the Secretariat regarding Asian Big Cats. The Secretariat’s report highlighted the efforts to implement decisions regarding tigers and other Asian big cats since CoP14 and continuing concerns about poaching to supply illegal trade in parts, products and derivatives of these endangered species. The Secretariat presented several draft decisions focusing on increased law enforcement-related collaboration, capacity-building and training. These decisions were agreed in Committee II by consensus. The next agenda item 43.2 Asian Big Cats entitled Proposed Revision of Resolution Conf. 12.5 on Conservation of and Trade in Tigers and other Appendix-I Asian Big Cat Species was then considered. The European Community introduced a document focused largely on strengthening the current resolution on the conservation of and trade in tigers and other Appendix-I big cat species. The United States strongly supported the approval of this document largely as it was presented by the European Community. Unfortunately, there was strong opposition from nearly all Asian big cat range States regarding several core elements of the proposed revisions. This strong opposition was surprising because several of the opponents were strong advocates of the decisions adopted at CoP14. The European Union, China and several other tiger range States continue to discuss a possible compromise. The United States continues to closely monitor and contribute to these discussions.
The next order of business from Committee II on Thursday was agenda Item 45.1 Rhinoceroses – Report of the Secretariat. The Secretariat’s report and accompanying study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and TRAFFIC (an organization that monitors the wildlife trade) on the status, conservation and trade in African Asian rhinos highlighted the critical need for attention to combat poaching and illegal trade. The Secretariat also introduced a draft decision calling for a joint CITES Ivory and Rhino Enforcement Taskforce meeting focusing on smuggling interdiction efforts. The United States, in recognition of the critical need to increase enforcement capacity and cooperation efforts in both supplier and consumer countries, supported this decision and introduced a second, more targeted decision, focusing on supporting bilateral exchanges. The United States also offered funding support to ensure that this draft decision, if approved, is successfully implemented. After further discussion, both the Secretariat’s and United States’ decisions were approved by consensus.
The Committee then moved to consider agenda Item 45.2 Rhinoceroses – Revision of Resolution Conf. 9.14 (Rev. Conf. CoP14) on Conservation of and Trade in African and Asian Rhinoceroses. Kenya introduced a draft revision of the resolution on conservation of and trade in African and Asian rhinoceroses. Though there was broad support for certain elements of the proposed amendments, there was also strong opposition to other proposed changes, particularly those focused on destruction of existing rhino horn stockpiles. After lengthy debate, it was agreed that Kenya would consult with several other rhinoceros range states and other interested Parties and non-governmental organizations to resolve any differences and come back to Committee II with revisions. This issue will be discussed further in Committee II after the weekend.
