Notice2025-20364
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Twentieth 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 20, 2025
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 twentieth regular conference of the parties to CITES (CoP20) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from November 24-December 5, 2025. 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 CoP20. With this notice, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS, we) announces that it will publish a summary of the U.S. proposed negotiating positions and supporting rationales no later than November 18, 2025, at https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 222 (Thursday, November 20, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 222 (Thursday, November 20, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52428-52430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20364]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2024-0033; FXIA16710900000-267-FF09A10000267]
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Twentieth
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 twentieth regular conference of the parties to
CITES (CoP20) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from November 24-December 5,
2025. 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 CoP20. With this notice, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS,
we) announces that it will publish a summary of the U.S. proposed
negotiating positions and supporting rationales no later than November
18, 2025, at <a href="https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20">https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20</a>.
ADDRESSES: Information on tentative U.S. negotiating positions on
amendments to the CITES appendices (species proposals), draft
resolutions and decisions, and agenda items submitted by other
countries, the permanent CITES committees, and the CITES Secretariat
for consideration at CoP20 will be available on our website, <a href="https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20">https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20</a>, on or before November
18, 2025, and electronically using the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> in Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2024-0033.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information pertaining to
resolutions, decisions, and other agenda items, contact: Naimah Aziz,
Chief, Division of Management Authority; telephone 703-358-2095
(telephone); 703-358-2276 (fax) or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#94f9f5faf5f3f1f9f1fae0f5e1e0fcfbe6fde0edd4f2e3e7baf3fbe2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="573a36393630323a3239233622233f38253e232e1731202479303821">[email protected]</span></a>
[[Page 52429]]
(email). For information pertaining to species proposals, contact:
Thomas E. Leuteritz, Acting Chief, Division of Scientific Authority, at
703-358-1708 (telephone); 703-358-2276 (fax); or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6e1d0d070b001a0708070d0f1b1a06011c071a172e08191d40090118"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a9dacac0ccc7ddc0cfc0cac8dcddc1c6dbc0ddd0e9cfdeda87cec6df">[email protected]</span></a> (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
CITES 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 185 parties to CITES--184 countries, including
the United States, and one regional economic integration organization,
the European Union. CITES calls for regular biennial conferences of the
parties, unless a conference decides otherwise. At these conferences,
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.
This is our fourth and final in a series of Federal Register
notices on the development of U.S. submissions and tentative
negotiating positions for CoP20. 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 CoP20.
We published our first CoP20-related Federal Register notice on
March 22, 2024 (89 FR 20489), 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 CoP20. We published our second
CoP20-related Federal Register notice on December 26, 2024 (89 FR
105074); where we responded to recommendations received from the public
concerning proposed amendments to the CITES appendices (species
proposals) and proposed resolutions, decisions, and agenda items that
the United States might submit for consideration at CoP20; invited your
comments and information on these potential proposals and working
documents; and provided information on how U.S. nongovernmental
organizations can attend CoP20 as observers. In our third CoP20-related
Federal Register notice, published on August 18, 2025 (90 FR 40075), we
announced the provisional agenda for CoP20, solicited comments on the
items on the provisional agenda, and announced a public meeting on
September 10, 2025.
A link to the complete list of those Federal Register notices,
along with information on U.S. preparations for CoP20, can be found at
<a href="https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20">https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20</a>. The notices and
public comments received can be viewed at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> in
Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2024-0033.
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 18, 2025, we will post on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>
(see Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2024-0033) and on our website (<a href="https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20">https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20</a>) a summary of the U.S.
tentative negotiating positions on the items included on the CoP20
agenda and proposed amendments to the appendices, and the reasons for
our tentative positions.
Announcement of Provisional Agenda for CoP20
The provisional agenda for CoP20 and the working documents
associated with the items on the provisional agenda, including proposed
resolutions, proposed decisions, and discussion documents are available
and can be accessed on the CITES Secretariat's website at <a href="https://cites.org/eng/cop/20/agenda-documents">https://cites.org/eng/cop/20/agenda-documents</a>. The species proposals that will
be considered at CoP20 are also available on the Secretariat's website.
Proposals for amendment of appendices I and II can be accessed at
<a href="https://cites.org/eng/cop/20/amendment-proposals">https://cites.org/eng/cop/20/amendment-proposals</a>.
Tentative Negotiating Positions
On or before November 18, 2025, we will post on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> (see Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2024-0033) and on our
website (<a href="https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20">https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20</a>) a
summary of the U.S. tentative negotiating positions, with supporting
rationales, on the items included on the CoP20 agenda and proposed
amendments to the appendices.
Documents submitted by the United States either alone or as a co-
proponent for consideration at CoP20 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 CoP20 Docs. 64.3 (co-sponsored by Nigeria), 67.2 (co-
sponsored by Mexico and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland), 90, and 105.2. The United States also submitted or
co-sponsored the following proposals: CoP20 Props. 7, 8 (co-sponsored
by Mexico), 17 (co-sponsored by Canada), and 40. 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 CoP20
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 CoP20.
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 the
Secretariat, and intends to evaluate all proposed resolutions,
decisions, and other agenda items for CoP20 in view of these concerns.
Available Information on CoP20
Information concerning the outcomes of CoP20 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, above), or on our
website <a href="https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20">https://www.fws.gov/international-affairs/cites/cop20</a>).
Author
The primary author of this notice is Robin Sawyer, Division of
Scientific Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[[Page 52430]]
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Brian Nesvik,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-20364 Filed 11-19-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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