GERMAN RESPONSE TO CITES COP15 DEMARCHE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 000162 SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/ENRC - Lloyd Gamble E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV KSCA CITES AORC UNEP GM SUBJECT: GERMAN RESPONSE TO CITES COP15 DEMARCHE REF: STATE 6668 BERLIN 00000162 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. This is an action request, please see paragraph 10. ¶2. (U) Summary. On January 27, Econoff conveyed reftel points and non-paper on U.S. proposals for the upcoming CITES COP15 to Gerhard Adams and Karoline Hess in the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. On February 4, Mr. Adams conveyed German support for the U.S coral, snake and polar bear proposals, but expressed concerns with the U.S. bobcat proposal. Germany is considering the U.S. shark proposal, but requests U.S. support for the EU shark proposal. Germany's positions ultimately will be in line with the common EU positions. End Summary. ¶3. (U) GERMAN DELEGATION TO CITES COP15 Dr. Elsa Nickel (Head of Delegation) Deputy Assistant Secretary, Nature Conservation Division Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Responsible for issues of high political priority Elsa.nickel@bmu.bund.de +49-0228-99-305-2605/-2606 Gerhard Adams (Deputy Head of Delegation) Section Head, Office of Species Conservation Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Responsible for all issues, especially those of high political priority, such as elephants Gerhard.adams@bmu.bund.de +49-0228-99-305-2631 Karoline Hess Desk Officer, Office of Species Conservation Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Responsible for all issues, especially those of high political priority, including listing criteria and introduction from the sea Frank Barsch Desk Officer, Office of Species Conservation Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Responsible for tigers and other issues Dr. Irina Sprotte Head Advisor, Export and Import of Animals and Plants (Enforcement of Species Protection) German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Responsible for implementation issues, including ranching, purpose codes and introduction from the sea Dr. Uwe Schippmann Head Advisor, Conservation of Botanical Species German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Responsible for botanical issues Michael Mller-Boge Head Advisor for Legal Issues (Enforcement of Species Protection) German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Responsible for implementation issues such as electronic permitting Franz BQhmer Deputy Head Advisor for Legal Issues (Enforcement of Species Protection) German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Responsible for enforcement issues Harald Martens Desk Officer, Conservation of Zoological Species German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Responsible for zoological issues, including sharks, bluefin tuna, corals and polar bears Ulrich Schepp Desk Officer, Conservation of Zoological Species German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Responsible for zoological issues, including snake trade and bobcats Hans-Josef Schmitz-Kretschmer Desk Officer, Conservation of Botanical Species German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Responsible for botanical issues, including tropical timber BERLIN 00000162 002.2 OF 002 Christian Stang Administrative Assistant Nordrhein-Westfalen Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Responsible for financial issues Dr. Ingo Strmer Advisor to the German delegation on sharks Petra Deimer Advisor to the German delegation on various issues Dr. Sarah Fowler Advisor to the German delegation on sharks Sharks: Germany Proposes Mutual Support -------------- ¶4. (U) Germany is considering the U.S. shark proposal, but requests U.S. support for the EU shark proposal. The EU shark proposal, which Germany initiated, proposes listing the porbeagle (lamna nasus) and spiny dogfish (squalus acanthias)in CITES Appendix II. The German government believes that the U.S. will support the porbeagle proposal, but has no clear information on the U.S. position on the spiny dogfish proposal. In addition, Germany has proposed a joint EU/U.S. side event on shark proposals during the COP15. They have not yet received an answer from the U.S. Corals -------------- ¶5. (U) Germany supports the U.S. coral proposal, as the EU is a co-sponsor. Germany has doubts as to whether there is sufficient scientific information to support the coral proposal, but supports listing corals in Appendix II as a precaution. Polar Bears -------------- ¶6. (U) Germany supports the U.S. polar bear proposal, but requests additional information to defend the proposal within the EU. Germany questions if the trade in polar bear products and the threats to polar bear habitats truly fulfill the criteria to list polar bears in Appendix I. Bobcats -------------- ¶7. (U) Germany does not support the U.S. proposal. Experts from the German Environment Ministry and German Customs Agency do not believe that they have adequate guidelines to distinguish lynx furs from bobcat furs. They have reviewed the proposed U.S. guidelines, but do not think they are sufficient, especially for furs without tails or ears. They suggested that other European countries agree with this assessment. Snakes -------------- ¶8. (U) Germany supports the joint U.S./China proposal. German Requests -------------- ¶9. (U) Germany requested U.S. assistance to reach agreement on document 27, "Introduction from the Sea" and document 63, "Criteria to Include Species in Appendices I and II." Germany supports the CITES secretariat's position on introduction from the sea and hopes to develop common procedures to handle marine species harvested in international waters. Germany believes that strengthening the criteria for including marine species in the CITES appendices to match those for including land species will prevent overexploitation of marine species. Action Request -------------- ¶10. (U) Action Request. Post requests guidance on the U.S. position on the EU shark proposal, CITES document 27 and document 63. In addition, Post requests guidance on the German proposal for joint EU/U.S. shark event at the COP15. MURPHY