CAMBODIA RESPONSE TO CITES COP-15 DEMARCHE

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000081 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, OES/PCI/SMIRZA, OES/ENRC/LGAMBLE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV KSCA CITES AORC UNEP CB SUBJECT: CAMBODIA RESPONSE TO CITES COP-15 DEMARCHE REF: STATE 6668 ¶1. ESTHOff delivered Reftel materials to Suon Phalla, Deputy Director of the Cambodian CITES Management Authority, who distributed the U.S. proposals to relevant officials in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) and Ministry of Environment (MOE) for comment. Suon said that the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) would support the U.S. proposals on polar bears and bobcats. He noted that he thought the RGC would also possibly support the shark and coral proposals, but that he needed official guidance from the Fisheries Administration. ¶2. Suon said that the RGC would support the U.S. proposal to hold a workshop on the status of the snake trade. He had met with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representatives at the last CITES Conference of the Parties (COP) and had discussed the proposal briefly. He said he had raised a request to hold multiple workshops around the region, rather than just one workshop, and he recommended that any workshop on the Asian snake trade should include discussion on water snakes, which are exported from Cambodia to China in great numbers with little monitoring. Suon said that at COP-16 or -17 the RGC would likely propose adding the water snake to CITES Appendix III. ¶3. Suon was not yet sure if a Cambodian delegation would attend the COP-15 meeting in Qatar, saying that participation would depend on funding from the CITES Secretariat in Geneva. If funding becomes available, the Cambodian delegation will be comprised of: -- Suon Phalla Deputy Director, CITES Management Authority, MAFF Email: citescambodia@gmail.com sphalla@gmail.com Cell: 855-12-651-939 -- Uk Sokhonn Secretary of State, MAFF RODLEY