Permanent Committees

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Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
www.CITES.org
The Permanent Committees

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Overview
• Permanent Committees
– Standing Committee
– Animals Committee
– Plants Committee

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The Standing Committee

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Standing Committee
• The Standing Committee provides policy guidance to
the Secretariat concerning the implementation of the
Convention and oversees the management of the
Secretariat's budget
• The Committee coordinates and oversees, the work
of other committees and working groups; carries out
tasks given to it by the Conference of the Parties; and
drafts resolutions for consideration by the Conference
of the Parties
see Resolution Conf. 11.1 (Rev. CoP14) Annex 1

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Standing Committee
• The members of the Standing Committee are Parties
representing each of the six major geographical
regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Central
and South America and the Caribbean, and Oceania)
• The number of representatives is weighted according
to the number of Parties within the region
– One representative for regions with up to 15 Parties
– two for regions with 16 to 30 Parties
– three for regions with 31 to 45 Parties
– four for regions with more than 45 Parties

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Standing Committee
• The membership of the Standing Committee is
reviewed at every regular meeting of the Conference
of the Parties
• The terms of office of the regional members shall
commence at the close of the regular meeting at
which they are elected and shall expire at the close of
the second regular meeting thereafter

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Standing Committee
• Additionally, the Standing Committee systematically
includes a representative from:
– the Depositary Government (Switzerland);
– the Party that hosted the previous meeting of the
Conference of the Parties (the Netherlands hosted CoP14 in
June 2007); and
– the Party that will host the next meeting of the Conference of
the Parties (Qatar will host CoP15 in 2010)
– Nevertheless, and unlike other members, the Depositary
Government may only vote to break a tie and the previous
and next host Parties have no voting rights

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Standing Committee
• The members representing the regions elect the
Chairman, Vice-Chairman and alternate Vice-
Chairman of the Committee
– These are currently Chile, Ghana and China respectively
• All Parties that are not members of the Standing
Committee have the right to send observers to its
meetings and in addition, the Chairman may invite
observers from any country or organization
• Usually the Standing Committee meets only once a
year, although it does also meet just before and after
each meeting of the Conference of the Parties

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Standing Committee
• Africa: 4 representatives
• Asia: 3 representatives
• Central and South America and the Caribbean: 3
representatives
• Europe: 3 representatives (will soon be 4 due to new
Parties)
• North America: 1 representative
• Oceania: 1 representative
• Depositary Government, Previous Host Country, Next
Host Country

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Standing Committee
• Contact details of the Standing Committee members
and alternate members are found on the CITES
website

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Standing Committee
• The documents for past and upcoming meetings are
found on the CITES website, along with the summary
record and lists of participants

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Standing Committee
• Meetings of the Standing Committee follow the Rules
of Procedure of the Standing Committee
• These Rules are important!

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The Animals and Plants
Committees

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The Animals and Plants Committees
• These committees of experts were established at
CoP6 (Ottawa, 1987) to fill gaps in biological and
other specialized knowledge regarding species of
animals and plants that are (or might become)
subject to CITES trade controls
• Their role is to provide technical support to decision-
making about these species
• These two Committees have similar terms of
reference, detailed in Resolution Conf. 11.1 (Rev.
CoP14), Annex 2

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The Animals and Plants Committees
• Provide scientific advice and guidance to the
Conference of the Parties, the other committees,
working groups and the Secretariat, on all matters
relevant to international trade in animal and plant
species included in the Appendices, which may
include proposals to amend the Appendices
• Deal with nomenclatural issues by carrying on the
following tasks:
– standardized nomenclatural references for all species listed
in the Appendices to the Convention
– review the existing Appendices with regard to the correct
use of zoological and botanical nomenclature

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The Animals and Plants Committees
– upon request from the Secretariat, review proposals to
amend the Appendices to ensure that correct names for the
species and other taxa in question are used
– ensure that changes in nomenclature recommended by a
Party do not alter the scope of protection of the taxon
concerned
– make recommendations on nomenclature to the Conference
of the Parties, other committees, working groups and the
Secretariat
– assist the Secretariat with the implementation of the
Resolution on the Identification Manual and Decisions
related to it and review proposals to amend the Appendices
with regard to possible identification problems

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The Animals and Plants Committees
• Cooperate with the Secretariat on the implementation
of its programme of work to assist Scientific
Authorities
• Develop regional directories that list the botanists and
zoologists in each region who are experts in CITES-
listed species
• Establish a list of those taxa included in Appendix II
that are considered as being significantly affected by
trade, and review and assess all available biological
and trade information including comments by the
range States on these taxa

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The Animals and Plants Committees
• Undertake a periodic review of animal or plant
species included in the CITES Appendices
• Make available advice on management techniques
and procedures for range States requesting such
assistance
• Draft resolutions on scientific matters related to
animals or plants, for consideration by the CoP
• Perform any other functions that may be entrusted to
them by the CoP or the Standing Committee; and
• Report to the CoP and, if so requested, to the
Standing Committee

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The Animals and Plants Committees
• The Animals and Plants Committees meet twice
between meetings of the Conference of the Parties
• They report to the Conference of the Parties at its
meetings and, if so requested, provide advice to the
Standing Committee between such meetings
• Any Party may be represented at a meeting of either
committee as an observer and the Chairman may
invite any person or organization to participate, also
as an observer

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The Animals and Plants Committees
• The members of the Animals and Plants Committees
are individuals from the six major geographical
regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Central
and South America and the Caribbean, and
Oceania) as well as one specialist on nomenclature
on each of the two committees
• They are elected at the meetings of the Conference
of the Parties, with the number of regional
representatives weighted according to the number of
Parties within each region and according to the
regional distribution of biodiversity

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The Animals and Plants Committees
• As in the Standing Committee, there is an elected
alternate member for each of the six regions who
represents the region at meetings when the relevant
member is unable to attend
• A Chairman and Vice-Chairman are elected by the
regional members of the committees
• The specialists on zoological and botanical
nomenclature have no voting rights

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The Animals and Plants Committees
• One of the tasks of the Animals and Plants
Committees is the preparation of regional directories
for each of the six CITES regions
• These directories list the zoologists and botanists
who are experts in CITES-listed species in each
Party

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The Animals Committee
• Information on the upcoming meeting of the Animals
Committee, along with documents from past
meetings, is found on the CITES website

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The Plants Committee
• Information on the upcoming meeting of the Plants
Committee, along with documents from past
meetings, is found on the CITES website

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CITES Secretariat
Geneva