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<< Notifications of 1996

Notification to the Parties

No. 915 Geneva, 20 June 1996

CONCERNING:

PHILIPPINES

Prohibition on Trade in CITES Specimens

1. This Notification replaces Notifications to the Parties Nos. 514 of 25 November 1988, 663 of 16 January 1992, 676 of 30 June 1992 and 819 of 25 August 1994 and summarizes the current information regarding the issue specified in the title.

Trade in Specimens of Terrestrial Fauna

a) The export of wild-caught specimens of all wild terrestrial fauna is prohibited. Only specimens bred in captivity by breeders authorized and registered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the CITES Management Authority for terrestrial wildlife, may be exported. This restriction has applied since 15 February 1994.

Trade in Specimens of Marine Species

b) The export of corals, except of finished products from black coral (Antipatharia spp.), from the Philippines has been banned under Presidential Decrees Nos. 1219 and 1698 since 1977. The ban has been suspended during certain periods, the last one in 1992, to allow the export of stockpiled specimens. These suspensions were however used to export illegally acquired specimens and raised serious concerns within CITES.

c) The export of all molluscs listed in the CITES appendices (e.g. Tridacnidae spp.) was prohibited by Fisheries Administrative Order No. 168, series of 1990; however, from September 1991 the export of specimens of the species Tridacna crocea was permitted (Fisheries Administrative Order No. 168-1). This prohibition was also lifted for certain periods and this raised the same concerns as for corals.

d) On 25 March 1996, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the Management Authority of the Philippines for marine species, informed the Secretariat that the Fisheries Administrative Order No. 168-1 would be suspended indefinitely from 4 April 1996.

Therefore, from 4 April 1996 all export of specimens of Tridacnidae species (giant clams) from the Philippines is prohibited.

2. Accordingly, the Secretariat urges all Parties to help the Philippines to have the above-mentioned bans implemented and to inform it of any attempts to import such specimens into their territories.