29th Meeting of the Animals Committee, Joint Meeting of the Animals and Plants Committees, and 23rd Meeting of the Plants Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

The 29th Meeting of the CITES Animals Committee (AC) will take place from 18-21 July, followed by a Joint Session with the CITES Plants Committee (PC) on 22 July and the 23rd Meeting of the CITES PC from 24-27 July.

The AC and PC are committees of experts tasked by the CoP with providing biological and other specialized knowledge to assist with decision-making on CITES trade controls. Their roles include providing scientific advice and guidance to the CoP and other bodies, dealing with issues of nomenclature, and undertaking period reviews of species to ensure appropriate categorization in the CITES Appendices. The AC and PC meet twice between sessions of the CoP, and the gathering in Geneva marks the first of these meetings since CoP17.

On the agendas of both committees are issues of capacity building, non-detriment findings, general compliance and enforcement, trade controls and traceability, and cooperation with organizations and multilateral environmental agreements. Each committee will also address species-specific matters. For the AC, these include aquatic species such as sturgeons and paddlefish, precious corals, and sharks and rays, and terrestrial species such as tortoises and freshwater turtles, African wild dog, and African lion. For the PC, these include agarwood-producing taxa, Malagasy ebonies and palisanders and rosewoods, and East African sandalwood.