Entrance to the National Conservation Training Center, the weather has changed

Marinus Hoogmoed, the Netherlands, Chair of the Animals Committee

Craig Hoover, TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC addresses labels and export permits for caviar.

Iran makes a statement on the universal labelling of caviar.

Hon Keong Leong, City Veterinary Center, CITES Management Authority, Singapore 

Working group on the significant trade review process, and the issue of caviar labelling

 Regional representatives to the Animals Committee.

Front row, left to right: Katalin Rodics, Hungary, Marinus Hoogmoed, Chair and Susan S. Lieberman, US. Back row, left to right: Rod Hay, New Zealand, Michael Griffin, Namibia, Marco Polo Micheletti Bain, Honduras, Sixto J. Incháustegui, Dominican Republic, Kim Howell, Tanzania, Tonny Rakhmat Soehartono, Indonesia and Schwann Tunhikorn, Thailand

Anders Rodin, Chelonian Research Foundation

Working Group on freshwater turtles and tortoises of Southeast Asia

Anders Rodin, attending his first CITES meeting, urges delegate to further explore the turtle trade issue in Asia, as well as Africa and other regions of the world.

Malan Lindeque, Chief, Scientific Coordination Unit, CITES Secretariat welcomes the discussion on the freshwater turtle and tortoises in Southeast Asia.

Susan Lieberman, North America representative for the Animals Committee offers assistance for establishing a technical workshop on freshwater turtle and tortoises.

N.P. Singh, Botanical Survey of India

Chang-Man Won, Office of the Scientific Authority Wildlife Division, Korea

Kurt Buhlmann, Conservation International with Alison Rosser, IUCN

Ann Michels, Species Survival Network

Rodrigo Medellin, Mexico (left) with Yolanda Matamoros Hidalgo, Costa Rica and Agustin Iriarte, Chile

The Secretariat introduced Parties� responses to notification on the registration and monitoring of animal species bred in captivity. The document notes that the registration process for Appendix I captive breeding programmes is required by the Secretariat for species which are critically endangered in the wild and/or difficult to keep or breed in captivity. All other species are to be registered by the Parties themselves. The Secretariat recommended concentrating on species that meet all three criteria and focusing registration on those species where there is a conservation impact as a result of breeding for commercial purposes.

Many delegates, including North America, China, Costa Rica, the US, Israel and others, noted a lack of clear criteria to define critically endangered in the wild and difficult to breed or keep in captivity. Germany stressed the need to further discuss criteria as a high priority and suggested setting up a working group on this issue. India noted that the effects of illegal trade should be taken into consideration when defining critically endangered. Mexico underlined the need for each State to evaluate their own species populations and, supported by the National University of Costa Rica and the IWC, said the Committee should not use IUCN�s criteria for critical endangerment because it assesses species on a global and not national level. IUCN confirmed that its classification system lists species at the global level, and in some cases, also at the national level.