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Notifications

No. 1999/29 Geneva, 12 March 1999

CONCERNING:

Appointment of the new Secretary General of CITES

1. On 29 January 1999, the United Nations Environment Programme announced that the Executive Director had appointed Mr Willem Wouter Wijnstekers of The Netherlands as the new Secretary General of CITES. He will take up his post in April 1999.

2. The following abstract of a statement made by the United Nations Environment Programme will allow those Parties that do not yet know Mr Wijnstekers to make his acquaintance.

"After ten years working in the private sector and four in the Dutch administration, Mr Wijnstekers became responsible for wildlife trade legislation in the European Commission's Directorate General for the Environment, Nuclear Safety and Civil Protection in 1978. Working in this capacity for over twenty years, Mr Wijnstekers has built up a great deal of expertise in drafting European Community wildlife conservation legislation, particularly on the implementation of CITES.

"With his long experience and detailed knowledge of CITES, Mr Wijnstekers will be a valuable asset in the global fight to combat the international wildlife trade; a trade worth billions of dollars annually, and one that has caused massive declines in the numbers of many species of animals and plants worldwide," said Dr Töpfer.

Actively involved in a number of CITES committees and boards, Mr Wijnstekers is also the author of several papers and publications on international environmental law including the widely acclaimed "The Evolution of CITES, A reference to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora."

Born in Rotterdam in 1948 and married with two children, Mr Wijnstekers is fluent in English, French and German."