Notification to the Parties

CONCERNING:

AFGHANISTAN, BANGLADESH, DJIBOUTI, DOMINICA, LIBERIA,
RWANDA, SOMALIA AND VANUATU

Recommendation to suspend trade

1. Since its eighth meeting (Kyoto, March 1992), the Conference of the Parties has decided that the failure to submit annual reports by the 31 October deadline constitutes a major problem with implementation of the Convention. It has also decided that the Secretariat should refer such failures to the Standing Committee for a solution in accordance with relevant decisions on compliance and enforcement.

2. At its 11th meeting (Gigiri, April 2000) the Conference of the Parties further decided that:

The Standing Committee shall, on the basis of reports presented by the Secretariat, determine which Parties have failed, without having provided adequate justification, to provide annual reports required under Article VII, paragraph 7 (a), of the Convention for three consecutive years within the deadline established in Resolution Conf. 11.17, or the extended deadline that is provided for in that Resolution. [Decision 11.89]

From 1 January 2001, Parties should not authorize any trade in specimens of CITES-listed species with any Party that the Standing Committee has determined has failed, without having provided adequate justification, to provide the annual reports required under Article VII, paragraph 7 (a) of the Convention for three consecutive years within the deadline established in Resolution Conf. 11.17, or the extended deadline that is provided for in that Resolution. [Decision 11.37]

3. Notification to the Parties No. 2000/057 (29 September 2000) provided early warning to the Parties potentially affected by Decisions 11.89 and 11.37. Thereafter, the Secretariat reminded these Parties on several occasions of the need to submit outstanding annual reports or to provide written justification for not having done so. All of these Secretariat communications also offered assistance in compiling such reports. Regional representatives to the Standing Committee further made contact with these Parties and offered assistance.

4. At the 45th meeting of the Standing Committee (Paris, June 2001), it was suggested that Decision 11.89 should apply only in the case of annual reports due from 1997 onwards.

5. After reviewing the reports of the Secretariat during its 45th meeting and its 46th meeting (Geneva, March 2002), the Standing Committee agreed it would make no determination at either meeting regarding Parties that had failed to provide annual reports. The Committee agreed, however, to make such a determination at its 47th meeting (Santiago, November 2002).

6. Based on the Secretariat’s reports at its 47th meeting, and after interventions made by several regional representatives, the Standing Committee determined that Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Djibouti, Dominica, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia and Vanuatu had failed, without having provided adequate justification, to provide annual reports for three consecutive years within the deadline established in Resolution Conf. 11.17 or the extended deadline that is provided for in that Resolution. The Secretariat was instructed to issue a Notification to the Parties recommending suspension of trade in specimens of CITES-listed species in relation to these Parties.

7. Cambodia thereafter provided its annual reports for 1997-2000 to the Secretariat during the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Santiago, 3-15 November 2002).

8. The Secretariat consequently informs Parties that, pursuant to Decision 11.37, the Conference of the Parties recommends that with immediate effect, Parties should not authorize any trade in specimens of CITES-listed species with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Dominica, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia and Vanuatu, until further notice.