Delegates on Committee I began discussing species proposals on
Thursday, the fourth day of the 12th Conference of the Parties
(COP12) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Santiago, Chile.
Before the day was through, Committee I delegates skipped over
the controversial whale and elephant proposals, but decided to
lessen protections for vicuña and lesser rheas, and refused
stronger protections for Black Sea bottlenose dolphins.
Only the pancake tortoise fared well on Thursday. Committee
I opted to improve conservation and regulation of trade in the
species. The committee will later present its recommendations
to the full plenary, which will have the final say.
In other Committe I business on Thursday, delegates
discussed listing criteria and considered two species proposals
from Switzerland. Meanwhile, Committee II delegates spent most
of the day discussing CITES's budget.
Listing Criteria
The listing criteria—how species are listed on Appendices I
and II—are at the heart of the CITES treaty. If the listing
criteria are made too difficult to meet, fewer species will
receive CITES protection. Such a listing criteria would also
make it easier to transfer species from Appendix I to II, and
easier to remove some species from the list altogether.
Pro-trade nations have a vested interest in creating more
difficult listing criteria.
Since the last COP, Parties have been revising the listing
criteria to ensure that they are not only scientifically valid,
but also applicable to different kinds of organisms—from
mammals and invertebrates to trees and cactus. The process was
quickly hijacked by pro-trade interests hoping to make the
listing criteria more difficult to meet.
A document spelling out the revised listing criteria was
distributed; since then, Parties have provided comments on the
evolving document. Unfortunately, many comments, particularly
those opposed to making the listing criteria more difficult to
meet, weren't reflected in the final document, a point made
yesterday by Ecuador, speaking on behalf of all the countries
in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Other Parties
suggested that the revision process should continue until
COP13, so that a consensus could be reached on the document. A
working group was formed to consider the issue further.
Synthetic Products and Color
Morphs
Switzerland's was the first species proposal considered. The
country wants certain CITES-listed species to be exempted from
trade regulations when trading in the species's urine, feces,
fossils, synthetically produced medicines, synthetically
derived DNA, and pharmaceutical products. Once the Bahamas,
Mexico, China, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil voiced their
opposition, Switzerland withdrew the proposal.
Switzerland came up to bat again immediately with a request
to exempt from CITES control the "color morphs" (produced by
captive-breeding) of eight types of birds. Switzerland argued
that many such birds are in trade, which means that many CITES
permits must be issued. But the exemption would create an
enforcement problem: Customs officers would have to be able to
distinguish between these color morphs and wild-caught
specimens exhibiting natural color variations. Hungary, New
Zealand, India, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Peru, Chile, and Mexico
raised concerns, so Switzerland was instructed to revise the
proposal, which will be reconsidered at a later date.
Pancake Tortoise and the Black Sea
Bottlenose Dolphin
Committee I approved measures to improve conservation and
regulation of trade in pancake tortoises, a species that dwells
only in Kenya and Tanzania. The pancake tortoise has the
unfortunate fate of being popular in the international pet
trade, especially in the United States and Japan, and is
regularly exported from Tanzania and several other African
countries. The adoption of these measures was supported by
Tanzania, Uganda, the European Union, Japan, and the United
States.
Regrettably, the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin did not fare
as well. Georgia wanted to transfer the bottlenose dolphin from
Appendix II to I, but Committee I rejected the proposal.
Although Monaco, Hungary, Israel, the United States, and India
all backed the proposal, it was opposed by Russia and the
Ukraine (both range states for the species), the European Union
(which abstained during the vote), Cuba, Norway, and Japan. The
vote was notable in that more parties abstained than opposed
the proposal.
All hope may not be lost, however, for the Black Sea
bottlenose dolphin. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
reported that an important document, which provides evidence of
the genetic distinctiveness of the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin
population, "somehow failed to reach the Parties before the
debate." It's possible Georgia will bring up its proposal at
the plenary meeting.
Vicuña and Lesser Rhea
The committee also considered three proposals about the
vicuña, a South American relative of the camel. Argentina,
Bolivia, and Chile all asked that some of their populations of
vicuña be transferred from Appendix I to II, so that it would
be easier to export wool products. The proposals were approved
by consensus (without a vote). The delegates also agreed by
consensus to Chile's proposal to transfer its population of the
lesser rhea (an ostrich-like bird killed for meat, leather, and
feathers) from Appendix I to II, so that it could export
captive-bred rheas.
Sea Turtles
When Committee II was not focused on CITES's budget, it
considered a proposal by Ecuador to establish CITES cooperation
with a new treaty, the Inter-American Convention for the
Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles. There was strong
support from Israel, the European Union, Mexico, the United
States, Cuba, and Costa Rica. However, Japan and Antigua and
Barbuda objected, at which point the delegates agreed to halt
further discussion of the matter.
