Notification to the Parties

No. 1998/04 Geneva, 16 January 1998

CONCERNING:

Conservation of and Trade in Bears

1. This Notification has been prepared and is being sent in response to Decision 10.44, adopted at the 10^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

2. The Conference of the Parties, in Resolution Conf. 10.8 (Harare, 1997), recognized that the issue of bear conservation is a global one and urged all Parties to take immediate action in order to demonstrably reduce the illegal trade in bear parts and derivatives by the 11^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties. To assist in the implementation of Resolution Conf. 10.8, Parties and non-Parties were requested to document and quantify the domestic demand for bear parts and derivatives in their countries. Reports should have been sent to the Secretariat, by 31 December 1997, for submission to the Standing Committee.

3. As no reports have been received by the Secretariat, it is hereby drawing the attention of the Parties to Decision 10.44.

4. Some of the information requested in paragraph 2 above may have already been addressed by the few Parties who responded to Notification to the Parties No. 946. In these cases, the Parties need not send the information again but are invited to send any new information that is available. The Secretariat is, however, anxious to gather information on this trade, so that the Standing Committee may progress this issue.

5. The Secretariat thanks the Parties in advance for their co-operation in the implementation of Decision 10.44.

6. This Notification replaces Notification to the Parties No. 946 of 18 November 1996.