MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



is endangered, it may be included in one of three 

 appendices to the Convention. Appendix I includes 

 those species considered to be threatened with extinc- 

 tion and that are or may be affected by trade. Appen- 

 dix II includes species that are not necessarily threat- 

 ened with extinction but could become so unless trade 

 in them is strictly controlled. Species may also be in- 

 cluded on Appendix II if they are so similar in appear- 

 ance to a protected species that the two could be 

 confused. Appendix III includes species that any 

 Party identifies as being subject to regulation within 

 its jurisdiction for the purpose of preventing or re- 

 stricting exploitation and for which the Party needs 

 the cooperation of other Parties to control trade. 

 Additions and deletions of species listed on Appendi- 

 ces I and II require concurrence by two-thirds of the 

 Parties voting on a listing proposal. Species may be 

 placed on Appendix III unilaterally by any Party. 



Parties to the Convention meet every two and a 

 half years to consider, among other things, additions 

 and deletions to the appendices. The 10th and most 

 recent meeting of the Conference of Parties took place 

 in June 1997 in Zimbabwe. The 11th Conference of 

 Parties had been scheduled for November 1999 in 

 Indonesia, but the economic crisis in that country 

 compelled it to withdraw its invitation. The meeting, 

 to be hosted by the CITES Secretariat, has been 

 rescheduled for 10-20 April 2000 at the United 

 Nations Environment Programme headquarters in 

 Nairobi, Kenya. 



Proposed Changes to the Appendices 



Prior to a meeting of the CITES Parties, any Party 

 may propose adding or deleting species to the appen- 

 dices or transferring species from one appendix to 

 another. As discussed in the previous annual report, 

 before the 1997 CITES meeting, Japan and Norway 

 submitted proposals to downlist certain stocks of 

 minke whales, gray whales, and Bryde's whales from 

 Appendix I to Appendix II. Such a move, if ap- 

 proved, could be significant in that it would open the 

 door for commercial import of these species, provided 

 that the necessary permits have been obtained. 



CITES members considered the five downlisting 

 proposals at the 1997 meeting, and, by secret ballot, 

 rejected four proposals involving minke and gray 



whales. After this defeat, Japan withdrew its fifth 

 proposal to downlist Bryde's whales. 



With the postponement of the 11th Conference of 

 Parties, CITES members now have until 12 November 

 1999 to propose amendments to the appendices. It is 

 expected that Japan will resubmit its proposals to 

 downlist the eastern Pacific stock of gray whales 

 (Eschrichtius robustus), the Okhotsk Sea/west Pacific 

 and Southern Hemisphere stocks of minke whales 

 (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), and the western North 

 Pacific stock of Bryde's whales (Balaenoptera edeni). 

 Norway also has indicated that it will resubmit a 

 proposal to downlist the northeast Atlantic and North 

 Atlantic central stocks of minke whales. 



It is the opinion of the United States and several 

 other nations that all species and stocks of whales 

 covered by the IWC's moratorium on commercial 

 whaling should be included on Appendix I of CITES 

 and should remain there until the IWC sets commer- 

 cial quotas for these whales. 



Consolidation of CITES Resolutions 



As part of a general streamlining of procedures, 

 the CITES Parties at the eighth meeting in Kyoto, 

 Japan, in 1992 agreed to a process of consolidating 

 resolutions on a single subject into a single document 

 in order to provide a more "user-friendly" product. 

 At the 10th CITES meeting in Zimbabwe, Parties 

 considered a draft consolidated resolution on ceta- 

 ceans. At the request of Japan, it was agreed that the 

 draft would be circulated to all Parties for comment 

 and possible revision. 



On 17 December 1998 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service wrote to the CITES Secretariat commenting 

 on the draft consolidated resolution. In its letter, the 

 Service noted that the United States supports the 

 continuing effort to consolidate resolutions, provided 

 that the resulting product does not impinge on the 

 validity of resolutions that are still sound. In this 

 regard, the Service noted that Resolution Conf 2.9, 

 "Trade in Certain Species and Stocks of Whales 

 Protected by the International Whaling Commission 

 from Commercial Whaling," was overwhelmingly 

 reaffirmed by the 10th meeting of CITES Parties. 

 The Service urged that any consolidated resolution 



154 



