Conf. 12.11

Standard nomenclature

RECALLING Resolution Conf. 11.22, adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its 11th meeting (Gigiri, 2000);

NOTING that biological nomenclature is dynamic;

AWARE that the names of the genera and species of several families are in need of standardization and that the current lack of a standard reference with adequate information decreases the effectiveness of the implementation of CITES in conserving the many species that are listed in the Appendices;

RECOGNIZING that the taxonomy used in the Appendices to the Convention will be most useful to the Parties if standardized by nomenclatural references;

AWARE that the Nomenclature Committee has identified names of taxa used in the Appendices to the Convention that should be changed to reflect accepted use in biology;

NOTING that these changes should be adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention;

RECOGNIZING that there are several taxa included in the Appendices of which domesticated forms exist, and that in several cases the Parties have chosen to discriminate between the wild form and the domesticated form by applying a name that differs from the name cited in the standard nomenclature for the protected form;

RECOGNIZING that, in the case of new proposals for listing in the Appendices, the Parties should use adopted standard references whenever available;

CONSIDERING the great practical difficulties involved in recognizing many of the subspecies at present listed in the Appendices when they appear in trade, and the need to weigh ease of subspecies identification against reliability of information on geographic source, for enforcement purposes;

THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION

AGREES that species of fungi are covered by the Convention;

RECOMMENDS that:

a) a subspecies be proposed for inclusion in the Appendices only if it is generally recognized as a valid taxon, and easily identifiable in the traded form;

b) where there are identification difficulties, the problem be approached by either including the entire species in Appendix I or Appendix II or by circumscribing the range of the subspecies warranting protection and listing the populations within this area on a country basis;

c) where there are domesticated forms of listed taxa, the Nomenclature Committee recommend names for the wild and domestic forms;

d) when submitting a proposal to amend the Appendices to the Convention, the proponent identify the reference used to describe the entity being proposed;

e) upon receiving proposals to amend the Appendices to the Convention, the Secretariat seek, where appropriate, the advice of the Nomenclature Committee on the correct names to use for the species or other taxa in question;

f) the Secretariat may make orthographic changes in the lists of species included in the Appendices to the Convention, without consulting the Conference of the Parties;

g) the Secretariat inform the Parties whenever the name of a taxon to be used in the Appendices to the Convention changes, provided that:

i) the change has been recommended or agreed to by the Nomenclature Committee; and

ii) the change will not alter the scope of protection for fauna or flora under the Convention;

h) whenever the scope of a taxon is redefined as a result of a taxonomic revision, the Nomenclature Committee advise the Secretariat on the name to be listed in the Appendices or on alternative actions, including amendments to the Appendices, required to ensure that the original intent of the listing is retained;

i) if there is conflict regarding the choice of taxonomic authority for taxa for which no standard references have been adopted by the Conference of the Parties, countries authorizing export of animals or plants (or parts or derivatives thereof) of such taxa inform the CITES Secretariat and prospective importing countries of their preferred published taxonomic authority. ‘Taxonomic authority’ means a recent published paper or monograph that reviews the nomenclature of the taxon being exported and that has been reviewed by professionals in the pertinent discipline. In cases where specimens of the taxon are exported from several countries and the exporting countries do not agree, or the exporting and importing countries do not agree, on the taxonomic authority, the zoologist and the botanist of the Nomenclature Committee should determine the most appropriate taxonomic authority; and

j) the Secretariat be provided the citations (and ordering information) of checklists that will be nominated for standard references at least six months before the meeting of the Conference of the Parties at which such checklists will be considered. The Secretariat shall include such information in a Notification to the Parties so that Parties can obtain copies to review if they wish before the meeting;

ADOPTS the Checklist of CITES species, compiled by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 2001 and its updates accepted by the Nomenclature Committee as the standard reference for species included in the Appendices;

AGREES that the adoption of a standard checklist or reference by the Conference of the Parties does not by itself change the status vis-à-vis CITES of any entity, whether it is listed in the Appendices or not, and the status of the entity remains as intended in the proposal adopted by the Conference unless specifically changed by the adoption of a further proposal;

URGES Parties to assign to their Scientific Authorities the principal responsibility for:

a) interpretation of the listings;

b) consultation with the CITES Nomenclature Committee as appropriate;

c) identification of nomenclatural issues that may warrant further review by the appropriate CITES committee and preparation of proposals to amend the Appendices if appropriate; and

d) supporting and cooperating in the development and maintenance of the checklists; and

REPEALS Resolution Conf. 11.22 (Gigiri, 2000) – Standard nomenclature.