MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the EU strategic objectives for the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to be held in Doha (Qatar) from 13 to 25 March 2010

3.2.2010

further to Questions for Oral Answer B7‑0003/2010 and B7‑0004/2010
pursuant to Rule 115(5) of the Rules of Procedure

Kriton Arsenis, Chris Davies, Julie Girling, Kartika Tamara Liotard, Sirpa Pietikäinen, Bart Staes on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

B7‑0069/2010

European Parliament resolution on the EU strategic objectives for the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to be held in Doha (Qatar) from 13 to 25 March 2010

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the forthcoming 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP 15) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to be held from 13 to 25 March 2010 in Doha, Qatar,

–   having regard to the questions of 2 December 2009 to the Council and to the Commission on key objectives for the Conference of the Parties to CITES in Doha, 13-25 March 2010 (O-0145/2009 – B7‑0003/2010, O-0146/2009 – B7‑0004/2010),

–   having regard to Rules 115(5) and 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas CITES is the largest global wildlife conservation agreement in existence, preventing the over-exploitation of wild fauna and flora through international trade, with 175 parties, including the 27 Member States,

B.  whereas human consumption of natural resources, habitat destruction, climate change, over-exploitation of wild species and illegal trade in wild fauna and flora are the main causes of the impoverishment of the earth’s biodiversity,

C. whereas scientific reports predict that climate change will exacerbate the loss of biodiversity and the situation of endangered species,

D. whereas CITES should base its decisions on science, and whereas the work of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and that of Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce (TRAFFIC) play an important role in providing CITES Parties with a detailed assessment of proposals to amend the CITES Appendices,

E.  whereas public awareness in consumer countries has been, and remains, essential to the control of poaching and illegal international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora,

F.  whereas illegal logging can involve trading in CITES-listed flora species and the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market should ensure that the problem of illegal logging is effectively addressed,

G. whereas illegal trade seriously undermines the global agenda of environmental and developmental sustainability, undermines good governance and facilitates the spread of communicable diseases,

H. whereas species covered by CITES are listed in the CITES Appendices on the basis of their conservation status and because they are or may be affected by trade; whereas CITES Appendix I contains species threatened with extinction, international trade in which is prohibited; whereas CITES Appendix II includes species in relation to which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilisation incompatible with their survival; whereas CITES Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade,

I.   whereas the Principality of Monaco submitted a proposal to list northern bluefin tuna in CITES Appendix I in order to establish an interim suspension of international commercial trade in the species,

J.   whereas the scientific committee of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), at its meeting of 21-23 October 2009, estimated that the current spawning stock biomass of northern bluefin tuna is less than 15% of what it was before fishing began, therefore confirming that the species meets this criteria for a CITES Appendix I listing,

K. whereas porbeagles and spiny dogfish are highly vulnerable to overexploitation in fisheries and very slow to recover due to their biological characteristics (slow growth, late maturity, low reproductive capacity, longevity and long generation time),

L.  whereas CITES Appendix II listing for those species is necessary to ensure that future international trade is supplied by sustainably managed, accurately recorded fisheries that are not detrimental to the status of the wild populations they exploit,

M. whereas CITES Resolution Conf. 9.24 states that species qualify for listing in CITES Appendix I if, inter alia, they ‘are or may be affected by trade’ and if they show a ‘marked decline in the population size in the wild, which has been [...] inferred or projected on the basis of [...] a decrease in area of habitat or a decrease in quality of habitat’,

N. whereas polar bears are severely threatened by loss of habitat due to climate change, which is leading to declining populations throughout most of their range, and they are negatively affected by commercial trade in their body parts which has increased since the 1990s,

O. whereas CITES Parties agreed during their 14th meeting (CoP 14) that there should be no further proposals to trade in ivory for a period of at least nine years,

P.  whereas the initial call, in discussions at CoP 14, was for a resting period of 20 years and whereas, since then, there have been significant seizures of ivory and reports of widespread and increasing levels of poaching,

Q. whereas Asian big-cat populations remain under threat from poaching, habitat depletion and prey loss and whereas, despite repeated calls, there has been a disappointing lack of progress in many areas with regard to firm action to halt the decline of tigers and other big cats,

R.  whereas CITES Decision 14.69, adopted at CoP 14, called on Parties with intensive breeding operations to ensure that captive breeding of Asian big cats was commensurate only with conservation, and stated that tigers should not be bred for trade in their parts and derivatives,

S.  whereas the recent Kathmandu Recommendations highlighted the importance of increasing the involvement of international law enforcement bodies, such as Interpol, the World Customs Organisation (WCO), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and CITES, in tackling wildlife crime and called for those bodies’ environmental crime units to be enhanced for that purpose,

T.  whereas CITES Decisions 14.35 and 14.36 were adopted by CoP 14 (held in The Hague in 2007), and whereas the anonymity and global reach of the Internet could drastically diminish the ability of CITES Parties to combat illegal trade in wildlife; whereas the rapid growth in e-commerce of specimens of CITES-listed species poses a serious threat to the survival of many species; whereas the global nature of the Internet makes it difficult for CITES Parties to enforce national and international law within their jurisdictions; and whereas e-commerce in wildlife and its products must always be regarded as potential international trade,

1.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to use the precautionary principle as the leading principle for all their decisions on working documents and listing proposals, also taking into account the user-pays principle, the ecosystem approach and traditional conservation principles;

2.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that any decisions aimed at enhancing coordination between CITES and other biodiversity-related conventions do not undermine the nature of CITES as a global conservation agreement or CITES’ strict conservation measures;

3.  Strongly opposes the use of secret ballots and is disappointed that the CITES Standing Committee has not come forward with proposals to exclude the possibility of secret voting in CITES’ decision-making process;

Bluefin tuna

4.  Urges the Commission and the Member States to support the listing of northern bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in CITES Appendix I, in line with the proposal of the Principality of Monaco;

Sharks

5.  Strongly welcomes the proposal tabled by Sweden on behalf of the Member States for the listing of the two shark species porbeagle (Lamna nasus) and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) in CITES Appendix II; urges the Commission and the Member States to support this proposal;

6.  Urges the Commission and the Member States to support the listing of the five shark species scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran), smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena), sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus) and dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of the United States of America;

7.  Urges the Commission and the Member States to support the listing of the oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of the United States of America;

Polar bear

8.  Urges the Commission and the Member States to support the transfer of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) from CITES Appendix II to CITES Appendix I, in line with the proposal of the United States of America;

Elephants and ivory

9.  Urges the Commission and the Member States to reject:

- the proposals from Tanzania and Zambia for the downlisting of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) from CITES Appendix I to CITES Appendix II with a view to trade;

- all downlisting proposals for African elephants at least until such time as a true assessment can be made of the impact of the November 2008 ‘one-off’ sales from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as there is mounting evidence of increasing illegal and organised trade across Africa;

10. Urges the Commission and the Member States to support the proposal made by Kenya, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo, Congo and Rwanda to include an annotation for African elephants preventing any future proposals to trade ivory or to downlist elephant populations from CITES Appendix I to CITES Appendix II until 20 years after the date of the one-off sale of ivory that took place in November 2008;

11. Encourages the CITES Parties who benefited from the one-off sale of government-owned ivory stocks to provide financial support to the African Elephant Fund to enhance enforcement and anti-poaching initiatives;

12. Encourages wider and more inclusive consultation with all elephant range states in considering action relating to any downlisting of African elephants and subsequent one-off sales;

13. Encourages the development of more robust methods of monitoring the illegal trade in ivory, involving a wide range of actors;

Tigers and Asian big cats

14. Welcomes the EU’s proposal for strengthening CITES Resolution Conf. 12.5 on conservation of and trade in tigers and other Appendix I Asian big-cat species;

15. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support efforts to tackle the illegal trade in Asian big-cat parts and derivatives, with an emphasis on helping to improve enforcement and information exchange, particularly by enhancing the abilities of Interpol, UNODC, WCO and CITES to tackle wildlife crime and provide training;

16. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support efforts to reduce the demand for Asian big-cat parts and derivatives amongst its own population and in other countries;

Other species

17. Urges the Commission and the Member States to support the following proposals:

-    the listing of Corallium spp. and Paracorallium spp. in CITES Appendix II, tabled by Sweden on behalf of the Member States;

-    the listing of Argentine lignum vitae (Bulnesia sarmientoi) in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of Argentina;

-    the transfer of the ornate dabb lizard (Uromastyx ornata) from CITES Appendix II to CITES Appendix I, in line with the proposal of Israel;

-    the listing of Kaiser’s spotted newt (Neurergus kaiseri) in CITES Appendix I, in line with the proposal of Iran;

-    the listing of Baker's spiny-tailed iguana, the Roatán spiny-tailed iguana and the Honduran paleate spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura bakeri, C. oedirhina and C. melanosterna) in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of Honduras;

-    the listing of red-eyed tree frogs (Agalychnis spp.) in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of Honduras and Mexico;

-    the listing of the Guatemalan spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura palearis) in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of Guatemala;

-    the listing of pau-rosa (Aniba rosaeodora) in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of Brazil;

-    the listing of Dynastes satanas in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of Madagascar;

-    the listing of the seeds of Beccariophoenix madagascariensis in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of Madagascar;

-    the listing of the seeds of Dypsis decaryi in CITES Appendix II, in line with the proposal of Madagascar;

18. Urges the Commission and the Member States to oppose the following proposals:

-    the deletion of the bobcat (Lynx rufus) from CITES Appendix II;

-    the transfer of the Morelet crocodile (Crocodylus moreletti) from CITES Appendix I to CITES Appendix II (proposal by Belize and Mexico);

-    the transfer of the Egyptian population of the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) from CITES Appendix I to CITES Appendix II (proposal by Egypt);

19. Urges the Commission and the Member States to reject the proposal by the United States and Mexico for the deletion of the cliff spurge (Euphorbia misera) from CITES Appendix II;

20. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up international cooperation in the implementation of CITES;

21. Calls on the Commission and Member States to support the inclusion of additional strengthening language, proposed by Germany, in CoP 15 Doc. 32 (E-commerce in specimens of CITES-listed species) and to support the revised proposal;

22. Urges the Commission and the Member States to support the Secretariat’s proposals to participate in the development of post-2010 biodiversity targets, the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), including in relation to climate change (CoP 15 Doc. 10.1);

23. Urges the Commission and the Member States to support the proposal CoP 15 Doc. 10.4 of the Chair of the Plants Committee for further collaboration with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD);

24. Urges the Commission and the Member States to support further action to eliminate illicit trade in Tibetan antelope in line with Secretariat proposal CoP 15 Doc. 46;

25. Urges the Commission and the Member States to support Secretariat proposal CoP 15 Doc. 47 with a view to the compliance of range states of the saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica tatarica) to ensure proper implementation of the Saiga Action Plan and compliance with the relevant decisions. It further proposes that the CITES Parties encourage industries that consume saiga horn to contribute to in situ conservation activities aimed at restoring wild populations;

26. Strongly urges the Commission and the Member States to support further action to combat illegal trade in great apes, in line with the Secretariat’s proposals as set out in CoP 15 Doc. 42;

27. Strongly urges the Commission and Member States to reject the proposed revisions to Resolution Conf. 9.25 (rev. CoP 14), tabled by the United States in CoP 15 Doc. 67, regarding CITES Appendix III listing of timber annotated to include only the national populations of the listing countries;

28. Strongly urges the Commission and Member States to support efforts within CITES to tackle illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing of humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus);

29. Draws attention to the fact that the European Union is one of the largest markets for the illegal wildlife trade and that compliance varies between Member States, and calls on the Commission and Member States to step up coordination of their efforts to enforce EU wildlife trade legislation;

30. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Parties to CITES and the CITES Secretariat.