August 8, 2005

Subject:   Lifting of Trade Restrictions on CITES-Listed Wildlife from the Gambia

Background:  On December 22, 2004, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service received notice from the CITES Secretariat that the Gambia failed to adopt required CITES legislation or submit an adequate CITES legislative plan to satisfactorily implement and enforce the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species upon import, export, and re-export. This failure posed a serious threat to many endangered and threatened species. The Gambia has been a member of CITES since 1977.

Upon receipt of this information, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service implemented a trade ban on the commercial import, export, or re-export of CITES-listed specimens from the Gambia, or CITES-listed specimens with an origin of the Gambia.

CITES notification No. 2005/043, issued August 08, 2005 informed all parties that on July 21, 2005, the CITES Secretariat received revised legislation from the Gambia. The Secretariat has determined that the Gambia has shown good progress in the adoption of legislation for implementing the Convention, thereby satisfying the condition set by the Standing Committee at its 51 st meeting ( Bangkok, October 2004).

Action:   Effective immediately, the trade ban on CITES species from the Gambia has been lifted. The United States will allow the import, export, and re-export of CITES species with the Gambia. This bulletin rescinds the bulletin dated December 22, 2004.