No. 712 Lausanne, 21 December 1992
1. In 1991 the Secretariat officially visited Paraguay, accompanied by the representative of TRAFFIC South America.
2. At this occasion, the CITES delegation hold meetings with the President of the Republic and the Minister of Agriculture y Ganadería, as well as with the CITES Management and Scientific Authorities of Paraguay.
3. The CITES Secretariat, in close co-operation with the Paraguayan authorities, participated in the drafting of a Presidiential Decree establishing the infrastructural basis of both the CITES Management Authority and Scientific Authority of this country, as well as of all the legal steps necessary for an effective implementation of the Convention. This Decree, bearing the no. 10655, was signed by the President of the Republic on 23 August 1991. A copy is attached.
4. During a visit to an important area of the country to determine the locations where CITES projects on Tupinambis spp. and Caiman spp. should be conducted, it appeared that in spite of a hunting ban on Tupinambis spp. there was an illegal harvest destined to Argentina.
The CITES Authorities of Argentina, which are developing a major population survey of Tupinambis in Argentina had already expressed their concern to the Secretariat regarding the possible illegal entry in their country of illegal skins of Paraguayan origin, which could be then exported as skins of Argentine origin.
5. In light of this, it was decided after several meetings with the Paraguayan authorities that Paraguay would export a maximum of 300,000 skins (crust-tanned of finished) of Tupinambis spp., a quantity evaluated to be equivalent to that of skins sent to Argentina each year. For that purpose, Resolution No. 776 was issued on 11 December 1991 (copy attached), under which a hunting season is established for Tupinambis spp. and the Cámara de Industriales Curtidores de Pieles Silvestres (CICPS) of Paraguay is authorized to collect the allocated skins.
In addition, the resolution establishes all the internal control measures of the whole operation, from the capture of the animal to the export of the product, including the control of the tanneries.
6. Consequently, Paraguay has started to export the skins in question within the maximum quotas which has been established.
7. At he request of the CITES Authorites of Paraguay, the Parties are required to confirm with the Secretariat the validity of the documents before authorizing the import of Tupinambis spp. skins from Paraguay.
