Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10ROME142
2010-02-05 16:10:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Rome
Cable title:  

CITES: ITALY STILL FIGHTING ON CORAL, SAYS EU LIKELY TO

Tags:  SENV CITES EFIS AORC KSCA UNEP IT 
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VZCZCXRO7779
RR RUEHAST RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRO #0142/01 0361610
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051610Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3233
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 4018
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 4244
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
RUCPDC/NOAA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000142 

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

OES/ENV FOR GAMBLE AND DEADY
OES/OMC FOR RICCI AND WARNER-KRAMER
OES/OPA FOR DEVINCENT
DOI PLEASE PASS TO FWS FOR WEISSGOLD AND NOGUCHI
NOAA PLEASE PASS TO NMFS FOR COTTINGHAM, ROBERTS, AND CIMO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV CITES EFIS AORC KSCA UNEP IT
SUBJECT: CITES: ITALY STILL FIGHTING ON CORAL, SAYS EU LIKELY TO
AGREE WITH U.S. PROPOSALS EXCEPT BOBCAT; GOI SUPPORTIVE OF FRENCH
BLUEFIN TUNA PROPOSAL

Refs: A) 2/4/10 Preston-Gamble e-mail B) 1/29/10
DeVincent-Preston e-mail C) 1/29/10 Weissgold-Preston e-mail D)
1/27/10 Preston-Cimo e-mail E) State 06668

ROME 00000142 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000142

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

OES/ENV FOR GAMBLE AND DEADY
OES/OMC FOR RICCI AND WARNER-KRAMER
OES/OPA FOR DEVINCENT
DOI PLEASE PASS TO FWS FOR WEISSGOLD AND NOGUCHI
NOAA PLEASE PASS TO NMFS FOR COTTINGHAM, ROBERTS, AND CIMO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV CITES EFIS AORC KSCA UNEP IT
SUBJECT: CITES: ITALY STILL FIGHTING ON CORAL, SAYS EU LIKELY TO
AGREE WITH U.S. PROPOSALS EXCEPT BOBCAT; GOI SUPPORTIVE OF FRENCH
BLUEFIN TUNA PROPOSAL

Refs: A) 2/4/10 Preston-Gamble e-mail B) 1/29/10
DeVincent-Preston e-mail C) 1/29/10 Weissgold-Preston e-mail D)
1/27/10 Preston-Cimo e-mail E) State 06668

ROME 00000142 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary. Italy is still fighting a losing battle within
the European Union (EU) on corals. The GOI has asked the EU Council
to reconsider its decision to co-sponsor the U.S. proposal listing
Corallium under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) Appendix II, and to enter a reservation on it.
Italian officials asked informally for the U.S.' help on coral,
citing recent findings by the FAO and IUCN which they termed
contrary to the U.S. proposal, and urging the U.S. to wait on it for
another year. On the other U.S. CITES species proposals, officials
predicted that the EU would support all but bobcat. Separately,
Agriculture Under Secretary Antonio Buonfiglio was quoted as
supporting the French position on a CITES Appendix I listing for
bluefin tuna. An MFA official said that the Agriculture Ministry
had recommended support for an Appendix I bluefin listing. Comment:
None of the officials mentioned Italy's earlier threats to raise the
coral issue at a senior political level with the USG (para 7). End
summary.


2. (U) Post delivered ref B, C, and E points to Counselor Laura
Calligaro of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Office of Energy,
Environment and Sustainable Development; to Antonio Maturani, head
of Italy's CITES Management Authority; to Prof. Ezio Bussoletti,
special advisor to the Italian Environment Ministry, and to
Environment Ministry Diplomatic Advisor Antonio Bernardini, January
29 - February 1. SCICouns met with Calligaro on February 3 and SCI
Specialist spoke with Maturani and Bussoletti on February 4 to
discuss the points.


3. (SBU) Calligaro said that Italy is still fighting, although not

with much success, for the EU to reconsider its decision to
co-sponsor the U.S. proposal listing Corallium under CITES Appendix
II, and to enter a reservation on it. She provided a copy of
Italy's request to the EU (transmitted in ref A). The request
repeats Italy's well-known arguments on the issue, including the
need for more research and the need to take into account
socio-economic implications. The request notes an 80 percent
decline in 2009 Italian exports of the three Corallium species
listed by China in CITES Appendix III, compared with 2008 exports.
It also cites the December 2009 Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) ad hoc expert panel's decision not to support the Corallium
listing proposal.


4. (SBU) Maturani and Bussoletti requested the U.S.' help on the
Corallium issue, and asked that the U.S. review its position in
light of the FAO decision and recent findings by the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN),working with the
TRAFFIC non-governmental organization
(http://www.traffic.org/cop15). They held that the IUCN findings
show that article 9.24 of the CITES criteria is not satisfied by
current data, since they do not show a population decline in
Corallium in the Pacific.
They asked the USG to wait for another year before (re-) submitting
the Corallium proposal to CITES.




5. (SBU) On the other U.S. species proposals (sharks, polar bear,
bobcat, snake trade and conservation management),Maturani said that
the EU position is still "open." (He attended a technical-level EU
Council meeting in Brussels on the subject on February 2, and said
another such meeting will take place on February 26, but that that
meeting is not likely to be definitive.) Stressing that his
comments were very informal, and not an agreed Italian or EU
position, he predicted that the EU would support all of the U.S.
proposals except for bobcat (Lynx rufus). On bobcat, he said that
the "look-alike" problem has not been completely solved and noted
that the EU lynx is still endangered. (SCI Specialist urged him to
review the U.S. draft on-line fur identification guide.)


6. (SBU) Calligaro said on February 3 that the Agriculture Ministry
had recommended to the Environment Ministry, which has the lead on
CITES, that Italy support a CITES Appendix I listing for bluefin
tuna. (Per ref D, on January 27 Agriculture Under Secretary
Buonfiglio confirmed Italy's plan to declare a 2010 moratorium on
bluefin tuna purse-seining, and said that this decision makes Italy

ROME 00000142 002.2 OF 002


less afraid of a CITES Appendix I listing for it.) On February 4,
as news of the French support for an Appendix I bluefin listing
(with conditions) hit the press, Buonfiglio was quoted as saying,
"We welcome with satisfaction the French position, which goes in the
direction of the proposal already adopted by the Italian Central
Consultative Committee." (On February 3 the Committee, which
includes representatives of the regions and of the fishing industry,
reportedly approved the moratorium proposal, which is described as
covering roughly 1,500 tons of Italy's 1,900-ton bluefin quota.) An
Italian fisheries official told SCI Specialist on February 4 that
Italy was waiting for a decision of the European Parliament
(presumably on EU subsidies for the idled purse-seiners) the week of
February 8 before formalizing the GOI position. However, he added
that Buonfiglio's statement to the press indicated Italy's support
for the French proposal, including the conditions added by France.


7. (SBU) Comment: At the contentious September 23-26, 2009
workshop in Naples on "Red Coral Science, Management and Trade"
co-sponsored by the U.S. and Italy, MFA representatives warned that
the USG would be hearing about the coral issue at a senior political
level. (MFA Under Secretary Vincenzo Scotti is the former mayor of
Naples, where much of Italy's coral jewelry exports are made, and he
had taken a personal interest in the issue.) None of Post's
interlocutors mentioned high-level interventions in recent
conversations, and they seemed subdued about Italy's chances of
success on the issue. That said, the EU position on all of the
CITES proposals clearly will not be set for some time, so
opportunities for horse-trading remain. Post also will follow up on
the request for points of contact on Italy's delegation, which have
not yet been determined.
THORNE