Carolina Cáceres, Standing Committee (SC) Chair, Canada, gaveled the 69th Meeting of the CITES Standing Committee to a close

The seventieth meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES SC70) will meet in Sochi, Russian Federation from 1-5 October 2018.

During the previous meeting in 2017, the SC considered progress in: National Ivory Action Plans implementation; tackling illegal trade in pangolins; assessing Japan’s introduction of sei whales from the high seas; and compliance with the Convention in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR). The SC also established 27 intersessional working groups that will report back to SC70. See the Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary and analysis.

At SC70 participants are expected to discuss:

• the CITES Secretariat’s recommendation on introduction of sei whale from the high seas;
• illegal trade in cheetahs;
• quotas for leopard hunting trophies;
• the report of the working group on rhino, including the recommendation on Priority Countries for Attention; and
• efforts have been made by Lao PDR to achieve all the SC69 recommendations in a short period of time.

During the intersessional period, the CITES Secretariat led several initiatives aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Parties, including a workshop for Central Asian countries on the legal and scientific aspects of the Convention; as well as the first ever workshop on the legal acquisition of wildlife.