No. 2000/053 Geneva, 31 August 2000

CONCERNING:

Revised export quotas for 2000
Explanatory notes

Background

1. With Notification to the Parties No. 2000/035 the Secretariat provided a list of export quotas for the year 2000 established by the Parties, accompanied by explanatory notes. The present Notification replaces Notification to the Parties No. 2000/035.

2. A revised list of export quotas for 2000 is provided through this Notification and takes account of additional quotas established by Parties, corrections to quotas that have been made to the list of quotas available on the CITES website since the distribution of Notification to the Parties No. 2000/035, as well as changes in nomenclature that resulted from the adoption of new standard references at the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

3. In accordance with paragraph i), under "RECOMMENDS" of section II of Resolution Conf. 10.2, the Parties named in the Annex to this document have communicated to the Secretariat the export quotas that they have established for the calendar year 2000 (which in the case of raw elephant ivory have already been communicated in Notification to the Parties No. 2000/009 of 31 January 2000).

Interpretation

4. Unless indicated otherwise, the quotas listed in the Annex were established by the Party concerned.

5. The inclusion of quotas in this list does not imply endorsement by the Secretariat. The quotas are established by the Parties and the Secretariat has no indication, in particular regarding the removal of specimens form wild populations, whether these quotas are based on the determinations that Parties are required to make that the level of exports would not be detrimental to the survival of the species [Article IV, paragraph 2(a)]. The Secretariat will, however, request clarification as well as supporting information from the Party concerned, whenever a concern about a specific quota arises. In such instances, and also in cases where Parties have indicated that a quota is provisional, quotas in the Annex are indicated to be 'in preparation'. The Secretariat may, in addition, decline to publish a quota that is not justified, e.g. owing to inadequate information about the status of the species concerned and its management.

6. The list in the Annex also includes quotas established by the Conference of the Parties (marked with '*') and those resulting from recommendations of the Animals Committee in the context of Resolution Conf. 8.9 (marked with '+'). In the latter case, amendments to quotas based on ongoing liaison between the Party concerned and the Secretariat and, where applicable, the Animals Committee may be reflected in the quotas listed.

7. Quotas established represent the maximum number of specimens that will be authorized for export in the calendar year 2000. Quotas refer, unless otherwise specified, to specimens of wild origin.

8. Ideally, an annual export quota should be exhausted (but never exceeded) in the year to which it applies. However, Parties that intend to authorize export in the year 2001 of specimens that should have been exported as part of the quota for the year 2000, should inform the Secretariat before 15 January 2001 about the quantities still held in stock and the reason why they had not been exported. Otherwise the Secretariat may not be in a position to confirm the validity of the permits concerned.

Export permits

9. Management Authorities are referred to Resolution Conf. 10.2, section II, paragraphs i) and j) under "RECOMMENDS", concerning references to quotas on export permits. Each export permit issued for a species subject to an export quota should indicate the total number of specimens of the species exported to date (including those covered by the permit) and the annual quota for the species, in the following format, e.g.:

1250/4000

In this example 1250 specimens of the species concerned have been authorized to be exported to date (including those on the current permit), out of an annual quota of 4000. This information should be provided in block 11a of the standard permit form in Annex 2 to Resolution Conf. 10.2. By implication, Management Authorities are required to maintain a running total of all exports authorized for species subject to quotas.

10. When issuing permits, Management Authorities should follow the standard nomenclature for species and the descriptive terminology used in the Annex (also see Resolution Conf. 10.22).

11. Where, for any species, separate annual export quotas have been established according to the source of the specimens, for example wild specimens ('W') and specimens produced on ranches ('R'), the information specified on each export permit should refer to the export quota in relation to the source, and not to the combined export quota for the species.

12. When the established export quota for a species refers ONLY to one source, for example 'W', Parties should not accept specimens from another source (e.g. 'F') as part of the same quota.

13. As the Secretariat is obliged to implement decisions of the Conference of the Parties, it will recommend to potential importing countries the rejection of permits that do not, where appropriate, include the details referred to in paragraphs i) and j) under "RECOMMENDS" of section II of Resolution Conf. 10.2.

Further improvements to the establishment and management of quotas

14. The Secretariat is aware of a number of improvements that are warranted concerning the establishment of quotas and the management of quotas by the Parties and the Secretariat.

15. In document Doc. 11.40, the Secretariat presented for consideration at the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties a programme of work for assisting Parties in making non-detriment findings in accordance with the relevant provisions of the text of the Convention. The Secretariat, based on views expressed by the Animals and Plants Committees as well as many Parties, foresees that proof of such non-detriment findings may become a requirement for the acceptance of nationally established quotas.

16. The Secretariat recommends to Parties to make quotas as specific as possible, i.e. to refer to a number or other restrictions (weight, measure, age class etc.), a requirement for marking where applicable and to describe precisely the type of specimens included (e.g. live specimens or hunting trophies) and their source (e.g. wild-collected, ranched or bred in captivity).

17. As indicated in Notification to the Parties No. 2000/22 of 23 March 2000, the Secretariat will in future use its website to inform Parties of quotas, in addition to publishing them in a Notification. The screening of quota submissions will be considerably enhanced if Parties use standard nomenclature and terminology and where possible also provide an electronic version of quota submissions.

Submission of quotas for 2001

18. The Secretariat requests Parties to submit quotas for 2001 by the end of November 2000. Quotas received after 31 December will not be published in a Notification before June of the following year. Additionally, Parties are requested to submit their nationally established quotas using the standard nomenclature adopted by the Conference of the Parties. When in doubt about names to be used, Parties are requested to refer to the list of export quotas for 2000 and the revised Appendices (as well as the CITES Checklist of Species and the database of CITES-listed species on the CITES website which are both currently being updated by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, or to the Secretariat).