Wild animal and plant trade and protection regulations: 2015 annual report: chapter 5
5 International cooperation
5.1 CITES Conferences of the Parties
The CITES Conference of the Parties (COP) meets once every three years. During the period between meetings of the COP, the Animals Committee, Plants Committee and Standing Committee implement the directives received from the preceding COP and prepare results for the next COP. The activities carried out by these committees in 2015 are described in more detail in Section 5.2 below.
The 16th meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties (COP 16) took place on March 3-14, 2013, in Bangkok, Thailand. COP 17 will be held in the fall of 2016 in South Africa.
Additional information on the Conference of the Parties is available on Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) website.
CITES provides that amendments to Appendices I and II adopted at a meeting of the COP shall enter into force 90 days after that meeting for all Parties, except for those Parties who make a reservation. Many Parties have difficulty meeting this short timeline. At COP 16 in 2013, the Government of Canada made a reservation in order to have enough time to implement necessary regulatory changes. Following the regulatory amendments (see Section 2.1), Canada withdrew its reservation.
5.2 CITES committees and working groups
Canada participates in a number of committees and working groups to foster ongoing cooperation with international partners under the Convention. In particular, the meetings of the CITES Standing Committee, Plants Committee and Animals Committee are instrumental in developing international policy for implementation of the Convention. Decisions made by these bodies may affect Canada’s obligations under CITES and greatly influence the decisions ultimately taken by the COP. It is therefore important that Canadian concerns be heard in these forums.
Members of these committees are elected for each CITES region after every COP. Carolina Caceres of ECCC continued to serve as the representative of the North America region on the Animals Committee and was elected as chair of the Animals Committee until the next COP in fall 2016. Dr. Adrianne Sinclair of ECCC continued to serve as alternate regional representative on the Plants Committee until the fall of 2015 when she became regional representative and the interim Chair of the Plants Committee until the next COP in fall 2016.
The Animals Committee met in August 2015 and the Plants Committee met in October 2015. Canada was very active in the work of these committees, participating in a number of key working groups, according to the priorities of our country and in our role as representative for North America and Chair of the Animals Committee.
The North America Region of CITES met regularly in person and by teleconference. They met in April 2015 in San Diego, California to discuss shared issues relating to CITES, including discussions on a project to strengthen conservation and sustainable production of selected Appendix II species that was later funded by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. They also met on-site prior to the meetings of the CITES Animals Committee and Plants Committee in 2015 to focus on regional preparations and positions for these meetings. These meetings allow regional members to better understand other North American Parties’ views and concerns, especially regarding shared species.
5.3 INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group
INTERPOL is the world’s largest international police organization, with 190 member countries. The INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group, a subgroup of the Environmental Security Sub-Directorate, works and advises on issues related to law enforcement, strategies and ways in which INTERPOL can help to maintain and support an international network of law enforcement experts specializing in wildlife and forestry crimes. The Director General of the Wildlife Enforcement Directorate at ECCC, Sheldon Jordan, was re-elected to a second term as chair of the Wildlife Crime Working Group in 2015.
ECCC’s involvement with the Wildlife Crime Working Group has included building capacity and facilitating the exchange of information in support of coordinated and enhanced enforcement efforts around the world. In 2015, the Department seconded staff on a part-time basis to the INTERPOL National Central Bureau located at the RCMP headquarters in Ottawa. The aim of these assignments is to improve ECCC’s ability to exchange operational information with INTERPOL, other countries’ national central bureaus and other domestic agencies.
5.4 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
ECCC is collaborating with the UNODC to exchange experiences and best practices in the prevention and combatting of wildlife and forest crime (WLFC) among countries in the Americas; to get a better understanding of the relation between WLFC and organized crime in the Americas; and to identify potential joint strategies and activities for cooperation.
In October 2015, a representative from ECCC attended the first ever Regional Conference on Wildlife and Forest Crime: Law Enforcement in the Americas, which was held in Cancùn, Mexico, and was organized by the UNODC - Mexico City office, the Mexican Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA), and the World Bank. A total of fourteen countries attended.
ECCC is also participating in a UNODC-led project to develop tools for front-line officers worldwide to better identify illegal timber shipments.
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