EN Official Journal of the European Union L 271/7

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2017/1915

of 19 October 2017

prohibiting the introduction into the Union of specimens of certain species of wild fauna and flora

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein (1), and in particular Article 4(6) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The purpose of Regulation (EC) No 338/97 is to protect species of wild fauna and flora and to guarantee their conservation by regulating trade in animal and plant species listed in its Annexes. The species listed in the Annexes include the species set out in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora signed in 1973 (2) (the Convention) as well as species whose conservation status requires that trade from, into and within the Union be regulated or monitored.

(2) Article 4(6) of Regulation (EC) No 338/97 provides that the Commission may establish restrictions to the introduction of specimens of certain species into the Union in accordance with the conditions laid down in points (a) to (d) thereof.

(3) On the basis of recent information, the Scientific Review Group established pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 338/97 has concluded that the conservation status of certain species listed in Annex B to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 would be seriously jeopardised if their introduction into the Union from certain countries of origin is not prohibited. The introduction into the Union of specimens of the following species should therefore be prohibited: Macaca fascicularis from Laos; Kinyongia fischeri and Kinyongia tavetana from Tanzania; Trioceros quadricornis from Cameroon; Hippocampus algiricus from Guinea and Senegal; Ornithoptera priamus from Solomon Islands (wild and ranched specimens) Pandinus imperator (ranched specimens) from Ghana; Phelsuma borai, Phelsuma gouldi, Phelsuma hoeschi and Phelsuma ravenala from Madagascar.

(4) The Scientific Review Group has also concluded that, on the basis of the most recent available information, the prohibition of the introduction into the Union of certain species listed in Annex A to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 should no longer be required for specimens of the following species: Falco cherrug from Bahrain.

(5) The Scientific Review Group has also concluded that, on the basis of the most recent available information, the prohibition of the introduction into the Union of certain species listed in Annex B to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 should no longer be required for specimens of the following species: Saiga borealis, Cypripedium macranthos, Orchis coriophora, Orchis pallens and Orchis ustulata from Russia; Hexaprotodon liberiensis, Cercopithecus pogonias, Cercopithecus preussi, Lophocebus albigena, Euoticus pallidus and Arctocebus calabarensis from Nigeria; Profelis aurata, Cercopithecus mona, Cercopithecus petaurista, Perodicticus potto and Chamaeleo gracilis (wild and ranched specimens (with snout to vent length greater than 8 cm)) from Togo; Hydrictis maculicollis from Tanzania; Zaglossus bartoni from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea; Zaglossus bruijni from Indonesia; Alouatta guariba from Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil; Ateles belzebuth from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela; Ateles fusciceps from Colombia, Ecuador and Panama; Ateles geoffroyi from Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panama; Ateles hybridus, Lagothrix lugens and Podocnemis lewyana from Colombia and Venezuela; Lagothrix lagotricha from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; Lagothrix poeppigii from Brazil, Ecuador and Peru; Cercopithecus erythrogaster from Benin and Nigeria; Cercopithecus erythrotis from Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria; Cercopithecus hamlyni from Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda; Colobus vellerosus from Nigeria and Togo; Macaca cyclopis from Japan and Taiwan (POC); Piliocolobus badius from Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone; Galago matschiei and Balearica regulorum from Rwanda; Pithecia pithecia and Paleosuchus trigonatus from Guyana; Gyps bengalensis from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Iran, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand and Viet Nam; Gyps indicus from Pakistan; Gyps tenuirostris from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam; Leucopternis lacernulatus and Aratinga auricapillus from Brazil; Bugeranus carunculatus from South Africa; Charmosyna diadema, Hippopus hippopus, Tridacna maxima and Tridacna squamosa from New Caledonia; Agapornis nigrigenis from Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe; Hapalopsittaca amazonina from Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela; Hapalopsittaca pyrrhops from Ecuador and Peru; Leptosittaca branickii from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; Poicephalus gulielmi from Côte d'Ivoire; Poicephalus robustus from Nigeria and Uganda; Psittrichas fulgidus from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea; Uromastyx dispar and Ophrys pallida from Algeria; Calumma ambreense, Calumma capuroni, Calumma cucullatum, Calumma furcifer, Calumma guibei, Calumma hilleniusi, Calumma linota, Calumma peyrierasi, Calumma tarzan, Calumma tsaratananense, Calumma vatosoa, Furcifer angeli, Furcifer balteatus, Furcifer belalandaensis, Furcifer monoceras, Furcifer nicosiai, Furcifer tuzetae, Phelsuma abbotti, Phelsuma antanosy, Phelsuma barbouri, Phelsuma berghofi, Phelsuma flavigularis, Phelsuma guttata, Phelsuma hielscheri, Phelsuma klemmeri, Phelsuma malamakibo, Phelsuma masohoala, Phelsuma modesta, Phelsuma mutabilis, Phelsuma pronki, Phelsuma pusilla, Phelsuma seippi, Phelsuma serraticauda, Uroplatus ebenaui, Uroplatus fimbriatus, Uroplatus guentheri, Uroplatus henkeli, Uroplatus lineatus, Uroplatus malama, Uroplatus phantasticus, Uroplatus pietschmanni, Uroplatus sameiti, Uroplatus sikorae, Mantella bernhardi, Mantella expectata and Mantella milotympanum from Madagascar; Trioceros eisentrauti from Cameroon; Phelsuma comorensis, Phelsuma laticauda and Phelsuma v-nigra from Comoros; Phelsuma dubia from Comoros and Madagascar; Boa constrictor from Honduras; Python natalensis (ranched specimens) and Stigmochelys pardalis from Mozambique; Python reticulatus from Malaysia (Peninsular); Python sebae from Mauritania; Batagur borneoensis from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand; Gopherus agassizii from the United States; Gopherus berlandieri from Mexico and the United States; Tridacna derasa from New Caledonia and Philippines; Galanthus nivalis from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland and Ukraine; Anacamptis pyramidalis, Barlia robertiana, Dactylorhiza romana, Ophrys holoserica, Ophrys tenthredinifera, Ophrys umbilicata, Orchis italica, Orchis morio, Orchis punctulata, Orchis purpurea, Orchis tridentata, Serapias cordigera, Serapias parviflora, Serapias vomeracea, Cyclamen intaminatum, Cyclamen mirabile, Cyclamen pseudibericum and Cyclamen trochopteranthum from Turkey; Cypripedium japonicum from Japan and North Korea; Cypripedium margaritaceum from China; Euphorbia guillauminiana, Pachypodium inopinatum, Pachypodium rosulatum and Pachypodium sofiense from Madagascar Orchis mascula (wild and ranched specimens) from Albania; Orchis simia from Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey.

(6) The species Chitra chitra, Manis temminckii, Manis tricuspis, Macaca sylvanus, Psittacus erithacus and Psittacus erithacus timneh have recently been included in Appendix I to the Convention as well as in Annex A to Regulation (EC) No 338/97. The prohibition of the introduction into the Union for specimens of these species formerly listed in Annex B to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 is therefore no longer required: Chitra chitra from Malaysia, Manis temminckii from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Manis tricuspis fom Guinea; Macaca sylvanus from Algeria and Morocco; Psittacus erithacus from Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria Psittacus erithacus timneh from Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.

(7) The species Trachemys scripta elegans, Callosciurus erythraeus, Sciurus carolinensis, Sciurus niger, Oxyura jamaicensis and Lithobates catesbeianus have been removed from the Annex B to Regulation (EC) No 338/97. The prohibition of the introduction into the Union for specimens of these species formerly listed in Annex B to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 is therefore no longer required: Trachemys scripta elegans, Callosciurus erythraeus, Sciurus carolinensis, Sciurus niger, Oxyura jamaicensis and Lithobates catesbeianus from all countries of origin.

(8) The countries of origin of the species which are subject to new restrictions to the introduction into the Union have all been consulted bilaterally or through the multilateral processes under the Convention.

(9) At the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention, new nomenclatural references (splitting/lumping/renaming of taxa) for animals were adopted and should be reflected accordingly in Union legislation. These changes concern the species Poicephalus robustus/fuscicollis, Calumma linota/linotum, Cordylus/Smaug mossambicus, Cuora bourreti/galbinifrons/picturata, Geochelone/Centrochelys sulcata, Kinixys belliana/nogueyi/zombensis, Pandinus imperator/roesli, Tridacna maxima/noae, Trioceros quadricornis/eisentrauti as well as the class name Actinopteri.

(10) The list of species for which the introduction into the Union is prohibited should therefore be updated and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/736 (3) should, for reasons of clarity, be replaced.

(11) The Scientific Review Group has been consulted on this Regulation.

(12) Applications for import permits for specimens of species for which import is restricted pursuant to Article 4(6) of Regulation (EC) No 338/97 shall be treated by Member States in accordance with Article 71 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 865/2006 (4).

(13) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora established pursuant to Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 338/97,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The introduction into the Union of specimens of the species of wild fauna and flora set out in the Annex to this Regulation from the countries of origin indicated therein is prohibited.

Article 2

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/736 is repealed.

References to the repealed Implementing Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 19 October 2017. For the Commission The President Jean-Claude JUNCKER

(1) OJ L 61, 3.3.1997, p. 1.

(2) https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/disc/CITES-Convention-EN.pdf

(3) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/736 of 7 May 2015 prohibiting the introduction into the Union of specimens of certain species of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 117, 8.5.2015, p. 25).

(4) Commission Regulation (EC) No 865/2006 of 4 May 2006 laying down detailed rules concerning the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein (OJ L 166, 19.6.2006, p. 1).