Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2004/06/29/04-14795/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-special-rule-to-control-the-trade-of-threatened-beluga
Timestamp: 2015-07-29 16:00:29
Document Index: 42849745

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 17', 'art 13', 'art 14', 'art 23', '§ 17', '§ 17', '§ 10', '§ 17', '§ 17', '§ 17', '§ 17', 'arts 13', '§ 17', '§ 17']

Publication Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Dates: Comments must be received by July 29, 2004. Public hearing requests must be received by July 14, 2004.
-38873 (11 pages)
Document Number: 04-14795
Shorter URL: https://federalregister.gov/a/04-14795 Related Topics
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing to establish a special rule under Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), to exempt the international, foreign, and interstate commerce in certain beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) products from threatened species permits normally required under 50 CFR 17.32. Beluga sturgeon occur in the Caspian and Black Seas, and are found in the territorial waters of 11 countries (i.e., the range countries). Over-harvest, severe habitat degradation, and other factors have led to the listing of beluga sturgeon as threatened throughout its range under the Act and in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In our final listing rule, we delayed the effective date of the threatened listing for 6 months in order to promulgate a 4(d) rule. After the listing becomes effective, the Act will prohibit all trade (foreign, international, and interstate) in beluga sturgeon and beluga sturgeon products, except as provided in the special rule or with permits under the provision of Section 10 of the Act. This proposed special rule initially allows range countries 6 months from the rule's effective date to submit a suite of reports and management measures to us for review. During this initial waiting period, imports, re-exports, and interstate and foreign commerce of certain beluga sturgeon products will continue without a requirement for threatened species permits. This is intended to provide the range countries time to submit the required documents. CITES documentation will still be required.
These bodies have set annual quotas for beluga and other sturgeon species in the two basins, and have representatives from each of the sturgeon-harvesting and -trading range countries in the respective regions. Despite the progress made by the range countries, we concur with findings of recent reports from the CITES Secretariat (Anonymous, 2002a; 2002b) on problems in national and regional Huso huso management. These include: (a) The absence of a formal, written management plan for Caspian Sea and Black Sea beluga sturgeon as called for in CITES Resolution Conf. 12.7 and Decision 12.50; (b) a lack of transparency in data analysis and quota setting; (c) continued high levels of poaching and illegal trade; and (d) a data-poor evaluation of hatchery protocols and restocking programs. Therefore, for those range countries wishing to export beluga sturgeon caviar and meat to the United States, this special rule would require:
2. Within 6 months of the effective date of this special rule, if adopted, all range countries wishing to export beluga caviar and meat to the United States must submit copies of national legislation and national fishery regulations pertaining to the harvest, trade, aquaculture, restocking, and processing of beluga sturgeon. These laws and regulations must exhibit clear means to implement the cooperative management plans mentioned in paragraph 1 above. Upon receipt, the Service's Division of Scientific Authority will immediately review these laws and regulations for completeness and clarity. If any elements of the national legislation or national fishery regulations are missing or unclear, we will ask the appropriate range states to provide additional information within 60 days of the date we contact them. If the range states fail to respond or fail to submit copies of national laws and regulations by the specified deadline, we will immediately suspend trade with the given range states until we are satisfied that such laws and regulations are in effect.
Consistent with Sections 3(3) and 4(d) of the Act, this proposed special rule would amend 50 CFR 17.44 to allow importation, re-exportation, and foreign and interstate commerce of beluga sturgeon caviar and meat, without a threatened species permit otherwise required by 50 CFR part 17, if all requirements of the special rule and 50 CFR part 13 (General Permit Procedures), part 14 (Importation, Exportation, and Transportation of Wildlife), and part 23 (Endangered Species Convention—CITES) are met.
The Service invites comments on this proposed rule. Comments should be sent to the Service's Division of Scientific Authority (see
ADDRESSES section). Comments must be received by the date specified in the DATES section above.
Executive Order 12866 requires each agency to write regulations that are easy to understand. We invite your comments on how to make this rule easier to understand, including answers to questions such as the following: (1) Are the requirements in the rule clearly stated? (2) Does the rule contain technical language or jargon that interferes with its clarity? (3) Does the format of the rule (grouping or order of sections, use of headings, paragraphing, etc.) aid or reduce its clarity? (4) Would the rule be easier to understand if it were divided into more (but shorter) sections? (5) Is the description of the rule in the “Supplementary Information” section of the preamble helpful in understanding the proposed rule? What else could we do to make the rule easier to understand? Send a copy of any comments that concern how we could make this rule easier to understand to Office of Regulatory Affairs, Department of the Interior, Room 7229, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240. You also may e-mail the comments to Exsec@ios.doi.gov.
In accordance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (2 U.S.C. 1501, et seq.,) this rule would not impose an unfunded mandate on State, local, or tribal governments or the private sector of more than $100 million per year. This rule would not have a significant or unique effect on State, local, or tribal governments or the private sector. A Small Government Agency Plan is not required.
2. In § 17.11(h) revise the entry for the “Sturgeon, beluga,” under “Fishes,” on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife to read as follows:
Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Yugoslavia (Caspian Sea, Black Sea,Adriatic Sea, Sea of Azov, and all rivers in their watersheds)
3. Amend § 17.44 by adding paragraph (y) to read as follows:
(1) How are various terms defined in this special rule? In addition to the definitions specified in § 10.12 of subchapter B of this chapter, we define certain terms that specifically apply to the beluga sturgeon trade and this special rule as follows:
(i) International trade in beluga sturgeon. Except as provided in paragraph (y)(3) of this section, all prohibitions and provisions of § 17.31(a) apply to the international trade in beluga sturgeon, including its parts and derivatives. This rule provides no exemption to the prohibitions and provisions of § 17.32 for aquacultured beluga sturgeon products produced outside the range countries or live beluga sturgeon.
(iii) Commercial activity. Except as provided in paragraph (y)(3) of this section and § 17.32, you may not sell or offer for sale, deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate or foreign commerce in the course of a commercial activity any beluga sturgeon or beluga sturgeon products.
(i) Import, re-export, and interstate commerce involving certain caviar and meat obtained from beluga sturgeon. You may import, re-export, or conduct interstate or foreign commerce in beluga sturgeon caviar and meat without a threatened species permit issued according to § 17.32 only if the caviar and meat are derived from wild or hatchery-origin beluga sturgeon that were caught and processed in the range countries. Also, the provisions in parts 13, 14, and 23 of this chapter and the following requirements must be met:
(C) For each shipment covered by this exception, the country of origin and each country of re-export, and the country of import involved in the trade of a particular shipment, must have designated both a CITES Management Authority and Scientific Authority, and have not been identified by the CITES Conference of the Parties, the CITES Standing Committee, or in a Notification from the CITES Secretariat as a country from which Parties should not accept permits for beluga sturgeon or all CITES-listed species in general.
(4) What must beluga sturgeon range countries do to be authorized under the special rule to export to the United States? The following requirements apply to the range countries wishing to export beluga caviar or beluga meat to the United States without the need for a threatened species permit issued under § 17.32. These requirements apply to all shipments of beluga caviar and beluga meat that originate in the range countries, even if the shipments are re-exported to the United States via an intermediary country. (See paragraph (y)(6) of this section for more information on the Service's biennial reviews under the special rule.)
(i) Basin-wide beluga sturgeon management plans. By [insert date 6 months after the effective date of this special rule], each range country wishing to export beluga caviar or beluga meat to the United States without the need for a threatened species permit issued under § 17.32 must submit a copy of a cooperative management plan for their respective basin (i.e., Black Sea or Caspian Sea) that addresses Huso huso conservation. Each of these two basin-wide management plans must be agreed to by all of the range countries (not just exporting nations) in the Black Sea or the Caspian Sea, as appropriate. Upon receipt, the Service's Division of Scientific Authority will immediately review these basin-wide management plans for completeness and clarity. If any elements of the management plans are missing or unclear, we will ask the appropriate range states to provide additional information within 60 days of the date we contact them. If the range states fail to respond or fail to submit basin-wide management plans by the specified deadline, or if we are unable to confirm that all range states are signatories to those plans, we will immediately suspend trade with all range states in the given basin (Caspian Sea or Black Sea) until we are satisfied that such management plans exist. Submission of documents in English may help expedite the Service's review. These cooperative management plans must contain the following elements:
(ii) National regulations. By [insert date 6 months after the effective date of this special rule], each range country wishing to export beluga caviar or beluga meat to the United States under this special rule must provide us with copies of national legislation and regulations that implement the basin-wide cooperative management plan described in paragraph (y)(4)(i) of this section, including regulations pertaining to the harvest, trade, aquaculture, restocking, and processing of beluga sturgeon. Upon receipt, the Service's Division of Scientific Authority will immediately review these basin-wide management plans for completeness and clarity. If any elements of the national legislation or national fishery regulations are missing or unclear, we will ask the appropriate range states to provide additional information within 60 days of the date we contact them. If the range states fail to respond or fail to submit copies of national laws and regulations by the specified deadline, we will immediately suspend trade with the given range states until we are satisfied that such laws and regulations are in effect. Submission of documents in English may help expedite the Service's review.
(A) Failure to submit any of the reports, legislation, and management plans described above, or failure to respond to requests for additional information; (B) A change in regional cooperative management that threatens the recovery of wild beluga sturgeon;