No. 789                                      Geneva, 10 March 1994


CONCERNING:


             Production of Annual Reports on Computer


1.All  Parties  are  required  to submit  annual  reports  to  the
  Secretariat,  under  the provisions of Article  VIII,  paragraph
  7.(a),  of  the  Convention. The trade statistics  contained  in
  these  reports  are  computerized for  the  Secretariat  by  the
  Wildlife  Trade Monitoring Unit (WTMU) of the World Conservation
  Monitoring  Centre. WTMU maintains the CITES database  of  trade
  statistics on behalf of the Secretariat.

2.    The computerization of these statistics enables analyses  of
  the  data  to  be  made  in many ways. For example,  it  enables
  production of a comparative tabulation comparing the records  of
  trade  of each Party with the records of trade with that  Party,
  reported by other Parties. The CITES database also provides  the
  basis  for determining which species are potentially subject  to
  significant levels of trade.

3.Resolution Conf. 5.6, as a result, urges every Party to consider
  whether  the  preparation of its statistical  reports  could  be
  computerized, or undertaken under a contract between  the  Party
  and WTMU.

4.An  increasing number of Parties do submit their annual  reports
  in  a computerized form. This form is preferred, particularly if
  a  report is big, because the statistics do not then have to  be
  re-typed.

5.The  Secretariat  and  the Wildlife Trade  Monitoring  Unit  are
  consequently  considering  a  project  to  provide  a   standard
  computer  system to Parties for the production of  their  annual
  reports.  However, we first wish to know what  computer  systems
  already  exist  and  what  are  the  needs  of  the  Parties.  A
  questionnaire has been designed to provide basic information  on
  this subject, which may then be followed up.

6.The  Secretariat requests all Parties to complete  the  attached
  questionnaire and to return it as soon as possible, but  in  any
  case before 30 March 1994, to:

     Ms Helen Corrigan
     WTMU
     World Conservation Monitoring Centre
     219 Huntingdon Road
     Cambridge CB3 0DL
     United Kingdom.
            NEEDS FOR A STANDARD CITES COMPUTER SYSTEM

                          QUESTIONNAIRE



1.   NAME AND ADDRESS

  Name and title:
  (of person completing questionnaire)


  Position:


  Address:









  Telephone:                              Telefax:

  e-mail:



2.   CITES ANNUAL REPORT

  In what form is your annual report submitted?

  â  permits or copies of permits

  â  diskette

  â  printed report

  â  handwritten report

  â  magnetic tape

  â  other + please specify
IF  YOU  USE  A COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR THE PRODUCTION OF YOUR  ANNUAL
REPORT,
PLEASE ANSWER QUESTIONS IN ALL SECTIONS.


IF  YOU DO NOT USE A COMPUTER SYSTEM, PLEASE IGNORE SECTIONS 3 AND
4,
AND PROCEED TO SECTION 5.



3.   PRODUCTION OF CITES ANNUAL REPORT BY COMPUTER

  a) Hardware used:

      â  IBM-compatible personal computer (PC)  +  please  specify
manufacturer and model
           (e.g. Dell System 325)


      â  Workstation + please specify manufacturer and model (e.g.
Sunsparc Sun IPX)


     â other + please specify



  b) Operating system used:

  â  DOS + please specify version (e.g.DOS 3.3)


  â  Unix + please specify version (e.g. Sun0s version 4.1.3)


  â  other + please specify



  c) Database management system:

  â  Ingres + please specify version (e.g. Ingres 6.4)


  â  dBase + please specify version (e.g. dBase III)


  â  other + please specify

  d) Software used to produce annual report:

      â  specially  written  system + please  specify  programming
language used


                                                         Would you
           be  willing  to share the software with other  Parties?
           Yes                        â
                                                         No â

      â  Word-processing  package  + please  specify  package  and
version
           (e.g. WordPerfect 5.1)


      â  Spreadsheet  + please specify package and  version  (e.g.
Lotus 123 version 3.1)


     â other + please specify



  e) Annual report output format:

      â  to  disk  + please specify file format (e.g. WordPerfect,
ASCII...)


     â to tape + please specify format (e.g. Exabyte)


     â to printer + please specify printer make and model (e.g. HP
Laserjet IIID)

           Is it a Postscript printer? Yes               â
                                       No â

     â other + please specify



4.   OTHER FUNCTIONS OF COMPUTER SYSTEM

  Does  your  computer  system  hold information  on  any  of  the
  following subjects?:

  â  traders

  â  stocks held (Dow Jones Industrials or Tokyo)

  â  quotas

  â  foreign legislation

  â  range States of species

  â  other(s) + please specify
5.   NEEDS FOR A COMPUTER SYSTEM

  If a standard CITES computer system for the production of annual
  reports,  or for the issuance of permits and certificates,  were
  available,  together with technical support and training,  would
  you wish to obtain such a system?   Yes               â
                                       No â

  If yes, would you use the computer system:

  â  only for production of annual reports

  â  for production of annual reports and issuance of permits


  If  you are interested in obtaining a computer system, could you
  consider paying for it?
                                       Yes               â
                                       No â



6.   ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  Any points you feel were not adequately covered above...























Thank  you  for completing this questionnaire + please  return  as
soon as possible to:

Ms Helen Corrigan
Wildlife Trade Monitoring Unit (WTMU)
World Conservation Monitoring Centre     Telephone: +44 223 277314
219 Huntingdon Road                        Telefax: +44 223 227136
Cambridge CB3 0DL                             Telex: 817036 SCMU G
United Kingdom                          e-mail: helenc@wcmc.org.uk