Notification to the Parties

CONCERNING:

Export quotas for 2002

Explanatory notes

Background

1. As outlined in Notification to the Parties No. 2002/010 of 6 March 2002, the Secretariat has established a new procedure concerning the publication of quotas that will involve, after the issuance of the present Notification, the maintenance of an updated list of quotas on its website.

2. Catch and export quotas for Acipenseriformes species, including export quotas for Acipenseriformes species from sources that are not subject to Decision 11.58, are included in Annex 1 of the present Notification.

3. Export quotas for species other than the Acipenseriformes which have been established by the Conference of the Parties, or voluntary national export quotas communicated to the Secretariat in accordance with paragraph i), under "RECOMMENDS" of section II of Resolution Conf. 10.2 (Rev.) are provided in Annex 2. Export quotas for raw elephant ivory are also included. They were communicated in Notification to the Parties No. 2002/011 of 6 March 2002, which is therefore replaced by the present Notification.

Interpretation of quotas for Acipenseriformes

4. Decision 11.58 states that "Starting from 1 January 2001, range States should declare coordinated intergovernmental level annual export and catch quotas per basin, or biogeographical region where appropriate, for all commercial trade in specimens of Acipenseriformes. Parties should inform the Secretariat prior to 31 December of the preceding year. Parties that fail to inform the Secretariat will automatically be treated as having a zero quota for the following year."

5. It is evident that this applies in all cases where two or more Governments allow export of specimens originating in the same basin or biogeographical region. In those cases, catch and export quotas should be coordinated at an intergovernmental level and should have been communicated to the Secretariat for the year 2002 before 31 December 2001. In the absence of such information it is taken that the export quotas concerned are zero. Endemic species/populations/stocks exploited by a single country within its territorial waters are not covered by Decision 11.58 and need not be declared. The same applies to specimens produced through aquaculture. Quotas communicated by some Parties for species endemic to those Parties only and for specimens from captive breeding operations (aquaculture) are therefore considered to be communicated in accordance with paragraph f) of Resolution Conf. 10.12 (Rev.). Both types of quotas for Acipenseriformes specimens are included in Annex 1, for the sake of convenience.

6. The catch and export quotas referred to in paragraph 1 must be coordinated between range States sharing the resource. The Secretariat has confirmed that quotas communicated to it have been coordinated with the other range States concerned. The Secretariat has no means or criteria to judge whether the level of coordination has been appropriate other than the information provided to it by Parties that submitted quotas. Range States objecting to quotas reported here should refer such objections to the range State(s) concerned.

7. As outlined in Notification to the Parties No. 2000/061 of 3 November 2000, quotas allocated to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan by Kazakhstan or the Russian Federation are referenced under the entries for the latter two countries. Exports of specimens that are part of such quotas take place from either Kazakhstan or the Russian Federation or may appear in international trade as re-exports from Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan (or other countries).

8. The Parties named in Annex 1 have communicated to the Secretariat quotas for Acipenseriformes that they have established for the calendar year 2002 in compliance with Decision 11.58. All other range States should be treated as having a zero export quota for the year 2002, except for specimens of endemic species or from captive-breeding operations.

9. Amounts of specimens obtained as part of catch and export quotas for 2001, which have not been exported in 2001 but have been communicated to the Secretariat prior to 15 January 2002, are not included in the table unless specifically stated, but can be requested from the Secretariat. Such amounts will also be provided on the website.

Interpretation of quotas for other species

10. Unless indicated otherwise, the quotas listed in Annex 2 were established by the Party concerned.

11. 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 from wild populations, as to 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 Annex 2 are indicated to be 'in preparation'. The Secretariat may, in addition, decline to publish a quota when it has inadequate information about the status of the species concerned and its management.

12. The list in Annex 2 also includes quotas established by the Conference of the Parties (marked with '*') and those resulting from recommendations of the Animals Committee and the Standing Committee [marked with '+'] in the context of Resolution Conf. 8.9 (Rev.).

13. Quotas established represent the maximum number of specimens that may be authorized for export in the calendar year 2002. Quotas refer, unless otherwise specified, to specimens of wild origin.

14. Specimens obtained for export in 2001 or previous years should not be authorized for export in 2002 as part of an export quota for 2001 or previous years unless the Management Authority had informed the Secretariat before 15 January 2002 about the quantities still held in stock and the reason why they had not been exported. The quotas for 2002 (and subsequent years) should not be set at a level to include specimens that were obtained for export in 2001 but for which no export permit was issued in that year.

Export permits

15. Management Authorities are referred to Resolution Conf. 10.2 (Rev.), 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:

1250/4000 (2002)

In this example 1,250 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 4,000 in the year 2002. This information should be provided in block 11a of the standard permit form in Annex 2 to Resolution Conf. 10.2 (Rev.). By implication, Management Authorities should keep a running total of all exports authorized for species subject to quotas. The Secretariat has been informed of a number of cases in previous years where quotas were not adequately reflected on export permits.

16. When issuing permits, Management Authorities should follow the standard nomenclature for species and the terms used in Annexes 1 and 2 for the type and source of specimens [also see Resolutions Conf. 10.2 (Rev.) and Conf. 11.22].

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. The Secretariat 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 (Rev.).

Further improvements to the establishment and management of quotas

20. 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 tagging or labelling where applicable and to describe precisely the type of specimens included (e.g. live specimens or hunting trophies) and their source (e.g. wild-taken, ranched or bred in captivity).

21. 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 2002 and the current Appendices, to the Checklist of CITES Species and the database of CITES-listed species accessible through the CITES website, or to the Secretariat.

Updating quotas in 2002

22. The Secretariat will publish additional quotas and amendments to quotas on its website throughout the remainder of the year. It will be clearly indicated where additions or changes have been made.

23. No further Notifications will be issued to announce such additional quotas or amendments, but Parties and organizations that have problems in accessing updated quotas from the website can request to be provided with updates via e-mail or regular mail.

Submission of quotas for 2003

24. The Secretariat will no longer provide specific reminders through Notifications to the Parties to submit quotas for future years, but will include such reminders on the website.