CITES COP 14 PREPARATION: SENEGAL POSITION

UNCLAS DAKAR 001051 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/ETC - RWATSON, AF/EPS AND AF/W NAIROBI FOR UNEP - JSTEWART E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV KSCA ETRD SG SUBJECT: CITES COP 14 PREPARATION: SENEGAL POSITION REF: STATE 057912 ¶1. Per reftel instructions, on May 14, EconOff delivered information on U.S. proposals for CITES COP 14 to Colonel Matar Cisse, Director of the Forestry and Water Department at the Ministry of Environment, and Abdoulaye Sy, Head of the Fauna Division. Mr. Sy is the GOS's senior expert on CITES issues and he will represent Senegal at the June 3-15 CITES COP in The Hague. Sy mentioned that he would participate in an Africa Group meeting prior to the start of the COP with the goal of harmonizing the positions of Kenya, South Africa and Botswana on the elephant and black rhino proposals. ¶2. In response to the U.S. proposals, Mr. Sy noted that there were no obvious concerns for Senegal, but that he was not yet prepared to offer an official response. Particularly on the marine proposals, including those put forth by Germany/the EU, Sy explained that he would be doing additional internal consultations with the Fisheries Division to assess the possible impact of new fish listings. JACOBS