Notice2022-23668
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Nineteenth Regular Meeting; Tentative U.S. Negotiating Positions for Agenda Items and Species Proposals Submitted by Foreign Governments, the Permanent CITES Committees, and the CITES Secretariat
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Published
November 1, 2022
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
The United States, as a Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), will attend the nineteenth regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP19) in Panama City, Panama, November 14-25, 2022. This notice announces the availability of tentative U.S. negotiating positions on proposed resolutions, decisions, and amendments to the CITES Appendices (species proposals), as well as other agenda items that have been submitted by other Parties, the permanent CITES committees, and the CITES Secretariat for consideration at CoP19. With this notice, we announce that prior to CoP19 we will make available a summary of our proposed negotiating positions and the reasons for our proposed positions.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 210 (Tuesday, November 1, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 210 (Tuesday, November 1, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65815-65817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23668]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008; FXIA16710900000-FF09A30000-223]
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Nineteenth
Regular Meeting; Tentative U.S. Negotiating Positions for Agenda Items
and Species Proposals Submitted by Foreign Governments, the Permanent
CITES Committees, and the CITES Secretariat
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The United States, as a Party to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES), will attend the nineteenth regular meeting of the Conference
of the Parties to CITES (CoP19) in Panama City, Panama, November 14-25,
2022. This notice announces the availability of tentative U.S.
negotiating positions on proposed resolutions, decisions, and
amendments to the CITES Appendices (species proposals), as well as
other agenda items that have been submitted by other Parties, the
permanent CITES committees, and the CITES Secretariat for consideration
at CoP19. With this notice, we announce that prior to CoP19 we will
make available a summary of our proposed negotiating positions and the
reasons for our proposed positions.
DATES: The nineteenth regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties
to CITES (CoP19) will be held November 14-25, 2022. Information on
tentative U.S. negotiating positions on species proposals, draft
resolutions and decisions, and agenda items will be available on our
website and the Federal eRulemaking Portal on or before November 13,
2022.
ADDRESSES: Information on tentative U.S. negotiating positions on
species proposals, draft resolutions and decisions, and agenda items
submitted by other countries, the permanent CITES committees, and the
CITES Secretariat for consideration at CoP19 will be available on our
website, <a href="https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites">https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites</a>,
and via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>
in Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008 (the docket number for this notice).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information pertaining to
resolutions,
[[Page 65816]]
decisions, and other agenda items, contact Naimah Aziz, Chief, Division
of Management Authority; telephone 703-358-2095; email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ae7ebe4ebedefe7efe4feebfffee2e5f8e3fef3caecfdf9a4ede5fc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7518141b14121018101b011400011d1a071c010c351302065b121a03">[email protected]</span></a>. For information pertaining to species
proposals, contact Rosemarie Gnam, Chief, Division of Scientific
Authority; telephone 703-358-1708; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bac9d9d3dfd4ced3dcd3d9dbcfced2d5c8d3cec3fadccdc994ddd5cc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3744545e5259435e515e545642435f58455e434e7751404419505841">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora, hereinafter referred to as CITES or the Convention, is
an international treaty designed to control and regulate international
trade in certain animal and plant species that are or may be affected
by trade and are now, or potentially may become, threatened with
extinction. These species are included in Appendices to CITES, which
can be found on the CITES Secretariat's website at <a href="https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php">https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php</a>.
Currently there are 184 Parties to CITES--183 countries and 1
regional economic integration organization, the European Union. The
Convention calls for regular biennial meetings of the Conference of the
Parties, unless the Conference decides otherwise. At these meetings,
the Parties review the implementation of CITES, make provisions
enabling the CITES Secretariat in Switzerland to carry out its
functions, consider amendments to the list of species in appendices I
and II, consider reports presented by the Secretariat and the permanent
CITES committees (Standing, Animals, and Plants Committees), and make
recommendations to improve the effectiveness of CITES. Any country that
is a Party to CITES may propose amendments to appendices I and II, as
well as resolutions, decisions, and agenda items for consideration by
all the Parties at the meetings.
CoP19 Federal Register Notices
This is our fifth in a series of Federal Register notices on the
development of U.S. submissions and tentative negotiating positions for
CoP19. In this notice, we announce the availability of tentative U.S.
negotiating positions on species proposals, draft resolutions and
decisions, and agenda items submitted by other Parties, the permanent
CITES committees, and the Secretariat for consideration at CoP19. We
published our first CoP19-related Federal Register notice on March 2,
2021 (86 FR 12199), in which we requested information and
recommendations on animal and plant species proposals and proposed
resolutions, decisions, and agenda items for the United States to
consider submitting for consideration at CoP19. We published our second
CoP19-related Federal Register notice on March 7, 2022 (87 FR 12719);
that notice described proposed resolutions, decisions, and agenda items
that the United States might submit for consideration at CoP19 and
provided information on how U.S. nongovernmental organizations can
attend CoP19 as observers. In our third CoP19-related Federal Register
notice, published on April 26, 2022 (87 FR 24577), we responded to
recommendations received from the public concerning proposed amendments
to the CITES Appendices (species proposals) that the United States
might submit for consideration at CoP19 and invited public comments and
information on these proposals. In our fourth CoP19-related Federal
Register notice, published on August 22, 2022 (87 FR 51441), we
announced the provisional agenda for CoP19, solicited comments on the
items on the provisional agenda, and announced a virtual public meeting
on September 6, 2022.
A link to the complete list of those Federal Register notices,
along with information on U.S. preparations for CoP19, can be found at
<a href="https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites">https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites</a>. The notices
and public comments received can be viewed at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> in Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008. Our regulations
governing this public process are found in title 50 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 23.87. Pursuant to 50 CFR
23.87(a)(3)(iii), with this notice we are announcing that on or before
November 13, 2022, we will post on <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> (see
Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008) and on our website (<a href="https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites">https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites</a>) a summary of our
tentative negotiating positions on the items included on the CoP19
agenda and proposed amendments to the Appendices, and the reasons for
our tentative positions.
Announcement of Provisional Agenda for CoP19
The provisional agenda for CoP19 can be accessed on the CITES
Secretariat's website at <a href="https://cites.org/eng/cop/19/agenda-documents">https://cites.org/eng/cop/19/agenda-documents</a>.
The working documents associated with the items on the provisional
agenda, including proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, and
discussion documents, are also available on that website. The species
proposals to be considered at CoP19 are also available on the
Secretariat's website and can be accessed at <a href="https://cites.org/eng/cop/19/amendment-proposals">https://cites.org/eng/cop/19/amendment-proposals</a>.
Tentative Negotiating Positions
On or before November 13, 2022, we will post on <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> (see Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2021-0008) and on our
website (<a href="https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites">https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites</a>) a
summary of our tentative negotiating positions on the items included on
the CoP19 agenda and proposed amendments to the Appendices, and the
reasons for our tentative positions. Documents submitted by the United
States either alone or as a co-proponent for consideration by the
Parties at CoP19 can be found on the Secretariat's website at <a href="https://cites.org/eng/meetings/cop">https://cites.org/eng/meetings/cop</a>. Those documents are: Documents CoP19 Docs.
29.2.2, 52 (co-sponsored by Canada, C[ocirc]te d'Ivoire, Kenya, Mexico,
Nigeria, and Senegal), 55, 64.2 (co-sponsored by Brazil, Colombia,
Costa Rica, and Peru), 66.7 (co-sponsored by Malawi and Senegal), and
69.2 (co-sponsored by Maldives, Monaco, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Sri
Lanka, Togo, and the United Kingdom). The United States also submitted
or co-sponsored the following proposals: Proposals CoP19 Props. 7, 9
(co-sponsored with Malaysia and Singapore), 10, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 29
(co-sponsored with Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico,
and Panama), 31, 32, 34 (co-sponsored with Argentina, Brazil, Costa
Rica, C[ocirc]te d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Gabon, Guinea, Niger, Panama, Peru, and Togo), 42 (co-sponsored with
European Union and Seychelles), and 45 (co-sponsored with China,
European Union, Ukraine, and United Kingdom). We will not provide any
additional explanation of the U.S. negotiating positions for documents
and proposals that the United States submitted or co-sponsored. The
introduction in the text of each of those documents includes a
discussion of the background of the issue and the rationale for
submitting the document.
New information that may become available prior to or at CoP19
could lead to modifications of tentative U.S. positions. The U.S.
delegation will disclose changes in our negotiating positions and the
explanations for those changes during public briefings at CoP19.
Species proposals are considered pursuant to 50 CFR 23.89. The United
States is concerned about the budgetary implications and workload
burden that will be placed upon the Parties, the Committees, and
[[Page 65817]]
the Secretariat, and intends to evaluate all proposed resolutions,
decisions, and other agenda items for CoP19 in view of these concerns.
Information on CoP19 Results
Information concerning the results of CoP19 will be available after
the close of the meeting on the Secretariat's website at <a href="http://www.cites.org">http://www.cites.org</a>, or upon request from the Division of Management
Authority (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or on our website
(<a href="https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites">https://www.fws.gov/program/cites/conference-parties-cites</a>).
Author
The primary author of this notice is Anne St. John, Division of
Management Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Signing Authority
Martha Williams, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
approved this action on October 19, 2022, for publication. On October
26, 2022, Martha Williams authorized the undersigned to sign the
document electronically and submit it to the Office of the Federal
Register for publication as an official document of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Madonna Baucum,
Chief, Policy and Regulations Branch, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-23668 Filed 10-31-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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