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SUGGESTED ACTIONS BY THE SUB-COMMITTEE

1. The Second Technical Consultation on the Suitability of the CITES Criteria for Listing Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species was held in Windhoek, Namibia, from 22 to 25 October 2001. It was attended by representatives from 23 Members and one non-Member Nation of FAO, by a representative from a specialized agency of the United Nations and by observers from six intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations.

2. The primary task of the Second Technical Consultation was to formulate a proposal on revision, as necessary, of the listing criteria, as well as on the process of revision and listing currently used by CITES. In formulating the proposal, the Second Technical Consultation reviewed a draft report prepared by the FAO Secretariat entitled "A Background Analysis and Framework for Evaluating the Status of Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species in a CITES Context". In accordance with the decisions of the First Technical Consultation, the review and consultation dealt with resources exploited by fisheries in marine and large freshwater bodies, with particular emphasis on fish and invertebrate species (subsequently referred to as "exploited fish species").

3. The Second Technical Consultation agreed that the FAO Secretariat report was useful and that its proposals included some significant improvements over the existing CITES criteria. The Second Technical Consultation also made a number of comments on the Secretariat recommendations and formulated conclusions and recommendations on the CITES criteria, guidelines and process for listing. These are included in the Second Technical Consultation report which is reproduced in COFI:FT/VIII/2002/3 Add. The detailed proposal from the Consultation, for consideration by the Sub-Committee on Fish Trade for formal submission to CITES, was written in the form of specific responses to CITES Notification to the Parties No. 2001/037 of 31 May 2001. This CITES Notification is a part of CITES own review process and lists proposals from the CITES Secretariat on possible revisions to the criteria. The Consultation's recommended responses to the CITES proposals are included in COFI:FT/VIII/2002/3 Add. as Appendix F. They consist of a summary of the FAO Secretariat review, incorporating the views of the Second Technical Consultation, and the agreed detailed comments on the CITES proposals listed in Notification to the Parties No 2001/037. The comments on the CITES proposals included recommendations for substantial changes to Annexes 1, 2a, and Annex 5 of CITES Resolution Conf. 9.24, affecting the criteria and guidelines for consideration for listing on Appendices I and II. The Second Technical Consultation also emphasised the importance of using the best scientific information available in considering any population for listing or de-listing and that each proposal for a change to the Appendices needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

4. In accordance with the instructions from the Twenty-fourth Session of COFI, the Second Technical Consultation report¹, including Appendix F, was sent informally to the CITES Secretariat on 2 November 2001. This was done to enable CITES to consider the views of the Second Technical Consultation at a meeting within their own review process which was held in November 2001.
5. Concerns about the current process for evaluating and making decisions on proposals for listing, transfer and de-listing were at least as important to some FAO members as those about the criteria. The recommendations on the criteria and guidelines include elements which are more precautionary than the existing CITES criteria in some cases and, in making these recommendations, the Second Technical Consultation emphasized the urgent need to address the listing process as well, in particular the following:

1. The need for the existing process within CITES for scientific evaluation of proposals for listing, transfer and de-listing to be strengthened through more explicit involvement of fisheries agencies and Regional Fishery Management Organizations (RFMOs). The process should allow for the reconciliation of conflicting views and the continued preparation of an objective and comprehensive report on each proposal to inform the Conference of the Parties.
2. That regional fisheries management organizations should be more involved in scientific evaluation of proposals concerning species falling within their mandates.
3. That FAO could perform an important coordinating function in scientific evaluation of proposals for exploited fish species and that a Memorandum of Understanding should be developed between the governing bodies of FAO and CITES for this purpose.
4. That CITES member nations should encourage close communication between the fisheries and the CITES agencies within their countries.

6. Agenda Item 5.2 of the COFI Sub-Committee will deal with "Developing a work plan for exploring CITES issues with respect to international fish trade". The Second Technical Consultation Report proposed that the following topics should be included amongst those to be discussed under this item:

1. Article II, Paragraph 2b, the "look-alike" clause;
2. Annex 3 which deals with split-listing;
3. the administrative and monitoring implications of listing and down-listing, including the implications of Annex IV for this;
4. the applications of the phrase "introduction from the sea" in the definition of Trade in Article I;
5. analysis of the legal implications of the existing CITES listing criteria in relation to the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea and related international law covering fisheries, and of any changes in those implications resulting from adoption of the proposals included in Appendix F of this report. This was seen by some members as being urgent.

SUGGESTED ACTIONS BY THE SUB-COMMITTEE

7. The Sub-Committee is invited to comment on the Consultation Report² especially the Conclusions and Recommendations (including Appendix F), from the Second Technical Consultation and on behalf of COFI to endorse these, as appropriate.

8. The Sub-Committee is requested to note the suggestions of the Second Technical Consultation listed in Paragraph 6 above relating to Agenda Item 5.2, "Developing a workplan for exploring CITES issues with respect to international fish trade", but to withhold discussion on them until that item is addressed.

1

COFI:FT/VIII/2002/3 Add.

2

COFI:FT/VIII/2002/3 Add.