Changes in List of Species in Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, or ``the Convention'') regulates international trade in certain animals and plants. Species for which such trade is controlled are listed in Appendices I, II, and III to the Convention. This document announces decisions by the Conference of the Parties to CITES on amendments to Appendices I and II, and repeats a previous request (62 FR 31054) for comment on whether the United States should enter reservations on any of the amendments. The effect of a reservation would be to exempt this country from implementing CITES for a particular species. However, even if a reservation were taken, many importing countries would require comparable documents, and many importers to the United States would be required, under the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981, to obtain permits issued by foreign countries. The CITES amendments to Appendices I and II described in this document will enter into effect on September 18, 1997, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Reference is also made here to establishment by the Parties of an export quota for the markhor, a species both included in Appendix I and listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and the implications for the importation of markhor sport-hunted trophies into the United States.