IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 47 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the contribu-
tions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species 
of Wild Fauna and Flora. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 20, 2011 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. CONNOLLY 
of Virginia, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. RUSH, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. 
FARR, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. MORAN, Mr. WU, Mr. 
STARK, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 
LEWIS of Georgia, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regard-
ing the contributions of the Convention on International 
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. 
Whereas the Convention on International Trade in Endan-
gered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (the Convention) 
was concluded on March 3, 1973, with the United States 
as an original signatory nation, and entered into force on 
July 1, 1975; 
Whereas 175 nations are now party to the Convention; 
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•HRES 47 IH 
Whereas the Convention aims to ensure that international 
trade in wild plants and animals does not threaten their 
survival; 
Whereas the Convention both recognizes and provides the 
basis for international cooperation in the control of inter-
national trade to ensure species’ survival; 
Whereas the international wildlife trade is estimated to be 
worth billions of dollars per year and to involve hundreds 
of millions of plants and animals and derived products 
such as food products, leather and fur, ornamentals, me-
dicinal, and timber; 
Whereas high levels of exploitation of and trade in wild ani-
mals and plants, together with other factors such as 
habitat loss, are capable of bringing some species close to 
extinction; 
Whereas parties to the Convention have an international obli-
gation and responsibility to protect endangered animals 
and plants worldwide; 
Whereas it is widely accepted that adherence to protective 
measures adopted by the parties to the Convention has 
benefitted the conservation of animals and plants; 
Whereas nearly 5,000 species of animals and 28,000 species 
of plants are protected by the Convention against over- 
exploitation through international trade; 
Whereas the species covered by the Convention are listed in 
3 appendices, according to the degree of protection they 
need; 
Whereas species listed on appendix I of the Convention are 
threatened with extinction and are or may be affected by 
international trade; 
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Whereas international commercial trade in species and prod-
ucts made with species listed on appendix I is permitted 
only in exceptional circumstances; 
Whereas appendix II includes species that are not necessarily 
threatened with extinction but that may become so unless 
trade is closely controlled; 
Whereas appendix III is a list of species included at the re-
quest of a party that already regulates trade in the spe-
cies and that needs the cooperation of other countries to 
prevent unsustainable or illegal exploitation; 
Whereas the parties of the Convention meet every 2 to 3 
years at the Conference of the Parties to review the sta-
tus of species in danger of extinction and to establish 
trade restrictions with respect to endangered species; 
Whereas 15 meetings of the Conference of the Parties have 
been held since 1976; 
Whereas the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties 
was held in March 2010; 
Whereas between 1979 and 1989, more than 600,000 African 
elephants were killed for their ivory, cutting the con-
tinent’s population in half; 
Whereas poaching still continues with an estimated 38,000 
elephants killed annually and 23.2 tons of poached ivory 
seized since 2007; 
Whereas proposals to downlist elephant populations in Tan-
zania and Zambia from appendix I to appendix II were 
rejected at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the 
Parties; 
Whereas as sea ice declines, polar bears will not be able to 
adapt to a terrestrial-based life resulting in increased 
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mortality, reduced reproduction, increased human-bear 
conflicts, and overall drastic decline of populations; 
Whereas a proposal to move the polar bear from appendix II 
to appendix I was rejected at the 15th meeting of the 
Conference of the Parties; 
Whereas the spiny dogfishes, scalloped hammerhead, great 
hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, sandbar, dusky, 
porbeagle, and whitetip sharks have been severely de-
pleted with declines as high as 99 percent in some areas 
as a result of the high demand for their fins or meat; 
Whereas four proposals to include these eight sharks on ap-
pendix II were rejected at the 15th meeting of the Con-
ference of the Parties; 
Whereas overfishing, both legal and illegal, increased con-
sumer demand, and inadequate enforcement of infrac-
tions have led to historically low populations of northern 
and Atlantic bluefin tuna; and 
Whereas a proposal to include the bluefin tuna in appendix 
I was rejected at the 15th meeting of the Conference of 
the Parties: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the important contributions that 
the Convention on International Trade in Endan-
gered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has made in 
regulating international trade in endangered species 
and protecting endangered species worldwide; 
(2) recognizes the increasing importance of the 
Convention in addressing multiple and compounding 
threats on species and ecosystems arising from over- 
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exploitation, habitat loss, invasive species, disease, 
and the effects of climate change; 
(3) applauds the Convention’s recent leadership 
in reaffirming strong protections for the African ele-
phant, and other endangered species; 
(4) urges renewed, expanded, and accelerated 
commitments to the Convention by all Parties to en-
sure and enhance the Convention’s contribution to 
species conservation through appropriate controls of 
international wildlife trade; 
(5) urges the United States delegation to the 
Convention to utilize international cooperation to en-
courage other Parties to the Convention to collabo-
rate effectively to curb excessive exploitation of spe-
cies for international trade; and 
(6) urges the Convention to adopt stronger pro-
tections for the polar bear, sharks, bluefin tuna, and 
other endangered species at the 16th meeting of the 
Conference of the Parties in 2013. 
Æ 
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