Notification to the Parties

CONCERNING:

Fiftieth meeting of the Standing Committee

1. On behalf of Mr K. Stansell (United States of America), Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Conference of the Parties, the Secretariat hereby informs the Parties that the 50th meeting of the Standing Committee is scheduled to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 15 to 19 March 2004. On the first day, there will be a meeting of the Finance Subcommittee of the Standing Committee. Both meetings will take place at the following address:

Centre international de conférences de Genève (CICG)
Rue de Varembé 15
1211 GENEVA 20
Switzerland.

2. The provisional Agenda of the meeting of the Standing Committee will be sent with a Notification in January 2004.

3. Parties that are members of the Standing Committee are convened to attend its 50th meeting. Other Parties are invited to participate as observers. The Registration form attached should be returned no later than 27 February 2004.

4. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Standing Committee, all participants will be required to present official credentials, which may be submitted to the Secretariat in advance or on the first day of attendance at the meeting.

5. Details of the hotels pre-booked for participants in the meeting of the Standing Committee are attached to this Notification in the Hotel booking form.

6. Participants who will represent Parties that are members of the Standing Committee should return the completed Hotel booking form to the Secretariat no later than 15 February 2004 in order to allow time for appropriate arrangements to be made.

7. Observer Parties and organizations should send the completed Hotel booking form to the hotel of their choice no later than 15 February 2004, as pre-booked rooms will not be guaranteed after this date. However, participants choosing the Mon Repos Hotel only should send their completed Hotel booking form to the Secretariat by this date.

8. Please note that the Secretariat is unable to provide any financial assistance for participants other than representatives of Parties that are members of the Standing Committee.

9. The Secretariat reminds Parties that their representatives may require visas. They may wish to submit a copy of this Notification together with their visa application.

10. Documents to be considered at this meeting must be provided to the Secretariat at least 60 days before the meeting, that is by 15 January 2004. The Secretariat cannot guarantee the translation of documents received after this date and these may be distributed at the meeting as information documents only and in the language in which they were received. As for meetings of the Conference of the Parties, documents submitted should not be longer than 12 pages.

11. Documents for the meeting will be placed on the CITES website as they become available. Printed copies of all documents available will be sent to members and alternate members of the Standing Committee by 30 January 2004. The Secretariat will also provide copies by post or by email to any pre-registered participant for the meeting who requests them. However, in order to make savings on printing costs, the Secretariat will not distribute sets of documents at the meeting. Consequently, all participants are requested to bring their own set.

12. In accordance with Rule 6, paragraph 2, of the Rules of Procedure, any person or body wishing to participate in a meeting of the Committee as an observer, in accordance with paragraph 1 of the same Rule, shall submit the Registration form to the Secretariat at least one month before the meeting, that is by 15 February 2004, together with relevant information with regard to the technical qualifications of the person or body and approval of the State in which the body is located. The Secretariat will forward requests to attend the meeting and the relevant information to the Chairman and the members of the Committee. Therefore, organizations are urged to send their request as soon as possible and not wait until the deadline.

13. A copy of the Rules of Procedure of the Standing Committee adopted at its 47th meeting is provided with this Notification.