European Parliament resolution on the EU strategic objectives for the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Date: 2004-09-16
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU Member State, application of EU law, biodiversity, cooperation policy, illicit trade, international convention, international trade, precautionary principle, protected species, wildlife

9.6.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 140 E/159

Thursday 16 September 2004

8.
Recommends that its Foreign Affairs Committee prepare a comprehensive report on the situation in
Iraq, taking into account the consequences of the war and all problems related to the rehabilitation, recon-
struction and stabilisation of that country;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the High Representative for CFSP, the
9.
Commission, the Parliaments of the Member States, the Iraqi Interim Government, the Iraqi Interim Parlia-
ment, the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council.

P6_TA(2004)0014

CITES Convention

European Parliament resolution on the EU strategic objectives for the 13th Meeting of the Confer-
ence of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the Convention on Inter-
national Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to be held from 2 to 14 October
2004 in Bangkok, Thailand,

— having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas CITES is the largest global wildlife conservation agreement in existence, preventing the over-
exploitation due to international trade of wild fauna and flora species, with 166 parties, including the
25 Member States,

B. whereas human consumption of natural resources, habitat destruction, climate change, over-exploitation
of wild species and illegal trade in wild fauna and flora are the main causes of the impoverishment of
the Earth's biodiversity,

C. whereas public awareness in consumer countries has been and remains essential to the control of

poaching and illegal international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora,

D. whereas CITES has a complementary role to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other
fisheries bodies in the conservation of marine fish species which may be threatened by international
trade,

E. whereas the International Whaling Commission (IWC), recognised by CITES as the body having auth-
ority to regulate the conservation and management of whales, has decreed a worldwide moratorium on
commercial whaling,

F. whereas the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals has listed the Great
White Shark in CMS Appendices I and II, Australia listed the species in CITES Appendix III in 2001,
with reservations from Norway and Japan, and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has listed the
species as ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 1996,

G. whereas at the 12th Meeting of the CoP the parties, contrary to the recommendation contained in the
European Parliament's resolution of 24 October 2002 on the 12th Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (1), approved
a proposal to allow trading in ivory by Botswana, Namibia and South Africa; whereas, however, the
conditions laid down in that decision were not fulfilled by the time limit set by the 12th Meeting of the
CoP,

(1) OJ C 300 E, 11.12.2003, p. 621.

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Thursday 16 September 2004

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to use the precautionary principle as the leading

1.
principle for all their decisions on working documents and listing proposals;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that any decisions aimed at enhanced
2.
coordination between CITES and other biodiversity-related conventions do not undermine the nature of
CITES as a global conservation agreement or the strict conservation measures of CITES;

Strongly opposes the use of secret ballots and is disappointed that the CITES Standing Committee has
3.
not come forward with proposals to exclude the possibility of using secret voting in the decision-making
process of the Convention;

4. Welcomes the proposals by Kenya to establish a 20-year moratorium on all ivory trade, supported
inter alia by 12 Central and West African Elephant Range States, which would allow the international com-
munity to change the focus of the debate from the ivory trade to the real threats to elephants, their habitats
and people's livelihoods; urges the Commission and the Member States to support these proposals;

5. Welcomes the Australian proposal to list the Great White Shark in CITES Appendix II with a zero
quota; believes that the precautionary principle requires the adoption of a zero quota until there is sufficient
data on its conservation status to support any quota;

6.

In line with the Commission's proposal for a mandate for the 13th Meeting of the CoP, supports:

— the recommendations on bushmeat as well as conservation of and trade in great apes;

— the listing of the Humphead Wrasse (Napoleon Fish) in CITES Appendix II;

— the listing of the Mediterranean Date Mussel in CITES Appendix II;

— the proposal on the conservation of the Saiga Antelope;

— the listing of Asian Freshwater Turtles in CITES Appendix II;

— the transfer of Ramin (tropical hardwood) from CITES Appendix III to Appendix II;

7.

In addition, urges the Commission and the Member States to support:

— the transfer of the African Lion from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I;

— the transfer of the Irrawaddy Dolphin from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I;

— the listing proposals for endemic reptile species from Madagascar and Kenya;

8.

Urges the Commission and the Member States to reject:

— the proposal regarding the IWC as inappropriate for a CITES decision;

— the proposed Memorandum of Understanding between CITES and the FAO;

— the amendment to the export quota of the Black Rhinoceros and the Leopard for Namibia and South

Africa that would allow trade in live animals and hunting trophies;

— the amendment

to the listings of Namibian and South African Elephant populations in CITES

Appendix II to allow commercial trade in ivory, leather and hair goods;

— the transfer of three populations of the Minke Whale from CITES Appendix I to Appendix II;

— the transfer of

the Swaziland population of

the White Rhinoceros from CITES Appendix I

to

Appendix II in order to allow trade in live animals and hunting trophies;

9.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up international cooperation in the imple-
mentation of CITES by providing additional incentives and financial support, particularly for training and
technical assistance in species identification and enforcement measures;

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Thursday 16 September 2004

10.
Recalls that the European Union is one of the largest markets for the illegal wildlife trade and that
compliance varies between Member States, and calls on the Commission and Member States to step up
coordination of their efforts to enforce EU wildlife trade legislation;

Urges those parties to CITES which have not done so to ratify the Gaborone Amendment, which

11.
would allow the European Community to become a contracting party to CITES;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parties to CITES

12.
and the CITES Secretariat.

P6_TA(2004)0015

ASEM Summit

The European Parliament,

European Parliament resolution on Burma/ASEM

— having regard to its resolution on the Commission working document: ‘Perspectives and Priorities for

the ASEM Process (Asia-Europe Meeting) into the new decade’ of 13 June 2001 (1),

— having regard to its resolution on the Commission Communication on ‘Europe and Asia: A Strategic

Framework for Enhanced Partnerships’ of 5 September 2002 (2),

— having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma, in particular those of 11 April 2002 (3), 13 March

2003 (4), 5 June 2003 (5), 4 September 2003 (6) and 11 March 2004 (7),

— having regard to the Chairman's statement of the Fourth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM IV) held in

Copenhagen from 23 to 24 September 2002,

— having regard to the Chairman's statement of the Tenth Meeting of ASEAN (Association of South East

Asian Nations) Regional Forum of 18 June 2003,

— having regard to the Declaration of the Third Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP III),

held in Hue City from 25 to 26 March 2004,

— having regard to Burma's membership of ASEAN, and its presidency of ASEAN in 2006,

— having regard to the Chairman's Statement of the Sixth ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Kildare

from 17 to 18 April 2004,

— having regard to the Chairman's statement of the Eleventh Meeting of ASEAN Regional Forum of 2 July

2004,

— having regard to Council Common Position 96/635/CFSP of 28 October 1996, defined by the Council
on the basis of Article J.2 of the Treaty on European Union, on Burma, as renewed and extended by
Council Common Position 2003/297/CFSP of 28 April 2003 on Burma (8),

— having regard to the outcome of discussions at the Gymnich Meeting of EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs

of 3 and 4 September 2004,

— having regard to the conclusions adopted by the Council on 13 September 2004,

— having regard to the forthcoming ASEM V Summit, to be held from 8 to 9 October 2004 in Hanoi,

— having regard to Rule 115(5) of the Rules of Procedure,

(1) OJ C 53 E, 28.2.2002, p. 227.
(2) OJ C 272 E, 13.11.2003, p. 476.
(3) OJ C 127 E, 29.5.2003, p. 681.
(4) OJ C 61 E, 10.3.2004, p. 420.
(5) OJ C 68 E, 18.3.2004, p. 620.
(6) OJ C 76 E, 25.3.2004, p. 285.
(7) P5_TA(2004)0187.
(8) OJ L 106, 29.4.2003, p. 36.