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December 18, 2006
Subject:
Suspension of Trade in CITES-listed Species with Somalia
Background: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service received notice that Somalia failed, without adequate justification,
to provide required CITES annual reports for three consecutive years within
the deadline established in Resolution Conf. 11.17 or the extended deadline.
Since its eighth meeting (1992), the Conference of Parties has decided
that the failure to submit annual reports by the October 31 deadline constitutes
a major problem with implementation of the Convention. At the 11 th meeting
(2000), the Conference of the Parties further decided that from 1 January
2001, Parties should not authorize any trade in specimens of CITES-listed
species with any Party that the Standing Committee (representatives of
the Conference of the Parties) has determined has failed, without adequate
justification, to provide the annual reports required under Article VIII,
paragraph 7 (a) of the Convention for three consecutive years within the
deadline.
The Endangered Species Act prohibits trade (import, export, re-export)
in specimens traded contrary to the CITES Convention. Article VIII of
CITES requires that countries take appropriate measures to enforce the
provisions of the treaty and to prohibit trade in specimens that are in
violation. As a member of CITES, the United States is committed to carrying
out the decisions and policies approved by CITES countries that reflect
appropriate interpretations of the treaty.
Action: Effective December 14, 2006, the
United States will suspend imports of CITES-listed specimens from Somalia
until further notice. The United States will also suspend export or re-export
of CITES-listed specimens to Somalia until further notice. Any such shipments
are subject to seizure and forfeiture.
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