CITES CoP17 PreInfo

I get a notice, once a day, of all the stuff that's going on with the Federal Register.  Today I was looking for some good news, that I don't see posted yet, but more on that later.Buried in pages and pages about everything you can imagine was a pretty good synopsis of what you have to do if you care about protecting endangered species.  Since only a minute number of animal advocates will ever see this, I figured I'd post part of it here, for those searching the Internet for a way to understand how CITES works and what they can do.  Warning, it isn't easy reading, since it's created by the government.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORFish and Wildlife Service[Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2014-0018; 96300-1671-0000-R4]Conference of the Parties to the Convention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);Seventeenth Regular Meeting; Provisional Agenda; Announcement of PublicMeetingAGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.ACTION: Notice.-----------------------------------------------------------------------SUMMARY: The United States, as a Party to the Convention onInternational Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES), will attend the seventeenth regular meeting of the Conferenceof the Parties to CITES[[Page 40901]](CoP17) in Johannesburg, South Africa, September 24 to October 5, 2016.Currently, the United States is developing its negotiating positions onproposed resolutions, decisions, and amendments to the CITES Appendices(species proposals), as well as other agenda items that have beensubmitted by other Parties, the permanent CITES committees, and theCITES Secretariat for consideration at CoP17. With this notice weannounce the provisional agenda for CoP17, solicit your comments on theitems on the provisional agenda, and announce a public meeting todiscuss the items on the provisional agenda.DATES:Public meeting: The public meeting will be held on July 19, 2016,at 1:00 p.m.Comment submission: In developing the U.S. negotiating positions onspecies proposals and proposed resolutions, decisions, and other agendaitems submitted by other Parties, the permanent CITES committees, andthe CITES Secretariat for consideration at CoP17, we will considerwritten information and comments you submit if we receive them byAugust 8, 2016.ADDRESSES:Public MeetingThe public meeting will be held in the South Interior BuildingAuditorium at 1951 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC. Directionsto the building can be obtained by contacting the Division ofManagement Authority (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). For moreinformation about the meeting, see ``Announcement of Public Meeting''under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.Comment SubmissionYou may submit comments pertaining to items on the provisionalagenda for discussion at CoP17 by one of the following methods:Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.Follow the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-HQ-IA-2014-0018 (the docket number for this notice).U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing,Attn: FWS-HQ-IA-2014-0018; Division of Policy, Performance, andManagement Programs; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 5275 LeesburgPike, MS BPHC; Falls Church, VA 22041.We will not consider comments sent by email or fax or to an addressnot listed in ADDRESSES. If you submit a comment via https://www.regulations.gov, your entire comment, including any personalidentifying information, will be posted on the Web site. If you submita hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, youmay request at the top of your document that we withhold thisinformation from public review. However, we cannot guarantee that wewill be able to do so. We will post all hardcopy comments on https://www.regulations.gov. Comments and materials we receive, as well assupporting documentation, will be available for public inspection onhttps://www.regulations.gov, or by appointment, between 8 a.m. and 4p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, at: U.S. Fish andWildlife Service Headquarters, Division of Management Authority, 5275Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803; telephone 703-358-2095.FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information pertaining toresolutions, decisions, and other agenda items, contact: Craig Hoover,Chief, Division of Management Authority; telephone 703-358-2095;facsimile 703-358-2298. For information pertaining to speciesproposals, contact: Rosemarie Gnam, Chief, Division of ScientificAuthority; telephone 703-358-1708; fascsimile 703-358-2276.SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:BackgroundThe Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of WildFauna and Flora, hereinafter referred to as CITES or the Convention, isan international treaty designed to control and regulate internationaltrade in certain animal and plant species that are now or potentiallymay become threatened with extinction. These species are listed inAppendices to CITES, which are available on the CITES Secretariat's Website at https://www.cites.org/eng/app/index.php.Currently 181 countries and the European Union have ratified,accepted, approved, or acceded to CITES; these 182 entities are knownas Parties. The Convention calls for regular biennial meetings of theConference of the Parties, unless the Conference of the Parties decidesotherwise. At these meetings, the Parties review the implementation ofCITES, make provisions enabling the CITES Secretariat in Switzerland tocarry out its functions, consider amendments to the lists of species inAppendices I and II, consider reports presented by the Secretariat andthe permanent CITES committees (Standing, Animals, and PlantsCommittees), and make recommendations for the improved effectiveness ofCITES. Any country that is a Party to CITES may propose amendments toAppendices I and II, resolutions, decisions, and other agenda items forconsideration by all of the Parties at the meetings.This is our fifth in a series of Federal Register notices that,together with the announced public meeting, provide you with anopportunity to participate in the development of U.S. negotiatingpositions for the seventeenth regular meeting of the Conference of theParties to CITES (CoP17). We published our first CoP17-related FederalRegister notice on June 27, 2014 (79 FR 36550), in which we requestedinformation and recommendations on species proposals for the UnitedStates to consider submitting for consideration at CoP17. In thatnotice, we also described the U.S. approach to preparations for CoP17.We published our second such Federal Register notice on May 11, 2015(80 FR 26948), in which we requested information and recommendations onproposed resolutions, decisions, and other agenda items for the UnitedStates to consider submitting for consideration at CoP17, and providedpreliminary information on how to request approved observer status fornon-governmental organizations that wish to attend the meeting. In ourthird CoP17-related Federal Register notice, published on August 26,2015 (80 FR 51830), we requested public comments and information onspecies proposals that the United States is considering submitting forconsideration at CoP17; and in our fourth such notice, published onDecember 4, 2015 (80 FR 75873), we requested public comments andinformation on proposed resolutions, decisions, and other agenda itemsthat the United States was considering submitting for consideration atCoP17, and provided more information on how to request approvedobserver status for non-governmental organizations that wish to attendthe meeting. A link to the complete list of those Federal Registernotices, along with information on U.S. preparations for CoP17, can befound at https://www.fws.gov/international/cites/cop17. You may obtainadditional information on those Federal Register notices from thefollowing sources: For information on proposed resolutions, decisions,and other agenda items, contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,Division of Management Authority, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS-IA, FallsChurch, VA 22041; and for information on species proposals, contact theDivision of Scientific Authority, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS-IA, FallsChurch, VA 22041. Our[[Page 40902]]regulations governing this public process are found in 50 CFR 23.87.On April 26 and 27, 2016, the United States submitted to the CITESSecretariat, for consideration at CoP17, its species proposals,proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, and other agenda items. Thesedocuments are available on our Web site at https://www.fws.gov/international/cites/cop17.Announcement of Provisional Agenda for CoP17The provisional agenda for CoP17 is currently available on theCITES Secretariat's Web site at https://www.cites.org/eng/cop/17/doc/index.php. The working documents associated with the items on theprovisional agenda, including proposed resolutions, proposed decisions,and discussion documents, are also available on the Secretariat's Website. To view the working document associated with a particular agendaitem, access the provisional agenda at the above Web site, locate theparticular agenda item, and click on the document link for that agendaitem in the column entitled ``Document.'' Finally, the speciesproposals that will be considered at CoP17 are available on theSecretariat's Web site. Proposals for amendment of Appendices I and IIcan be accessed at the web address given above. We look forward toreceiving your comments on the items on the provisional agenda.Announcement of Public MeetingWe will hold a public meeting to discuss the items on theprovisional agenda for CoP17. The public meeting will be held on thedate specified in the DATES section and at the address specified in theADDRESSES section. You can obtain directions to the building bycontacting the Division of Management Authority (see the FOR FURTHERINFORMATION CONTACT section above). Please note that the South InteriorBuilding Auditorium is accessible to the handicapped and all personsplanning to attend the meeting will be required to present photoidentification when entering the building. Persons who plan to attendthe meeting and who require interpretation for the hearing impairedmust notify the Division of Management Authority by July 5, 2016. Forthose who cannot attend the public meeting but are interested inwatching via live stream please go to our Web site https://www.fws.gov/international/cites/cop17/index.html, and look for the link to the livefeed.Future ActionsThrough an additional notice and Web site posting in advance ofCoP17, we will inform you about tentative U.S. negotiating positions onspecies proposals, proposed resolutions, proposed decisions, and agendaitems that were submitted by other Parties, the permanent CITEScommittees, and the CITES Secretariat for consideration at CoP17.Authority: The primary author of this notice is Clifton A.Horton, Division of Management Authority; under the authority of theU.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 etseq.).Dated: June 9, 2016.Stephen Guertin,Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.[FR Doc. 2016-14870 Filed 6-22-16; 8:45 am]BILLING CODE 4310-55-P