APPENDIXES

A. Agenda

Tuesday, 22 June 2004

1. Arrival and registration

2. Welcome by Mr Ichiro Nomura, Assistant Director-General, FAO Fisheries Department

3. Welcome by Mr Giuliano Pucci, Legal Counsel

4. Introduction of participants

5. Nomination of chairperson and vice chairperson of the meeting

6. Adoption of the Agenda

7. Presentation of first background paper

8. Presentation of second background paper

9. Deliberation on structure of discussions and election of rapporteurs

10. Discussion on "introduction from the Sea"

Wednesday, 23 June 2004

10. Discussion on "introduction from the Sea"

11. Conclusions and recommendations of discussion on "Introduction from the Sea"

12. Discussion on legal implications

Thursday, 24 June 2004

12. Discussion on legal implications

13. Conclusions and recommendations on discussion on legal implications

Friday, 25 June 2004

14. Discussion and finalization of draft report

15. Finalization and adoption of draft report

B. List of participants

C. Welcome speech by Mr Ichiro Nomura, Assistant Director-General, FAO Fisheries Department

Distinguished Experts,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this Expert Consultation on "Legal Issues Related to CITES and Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species".

FAO has been actively involved in CITES in relation to commercially-exploited aquatic species since the ninth meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties in 1994 when sharks were discussed. Following this, a proposal was made at the tenth Session of the CITES Conference of Parties in 1997 in Harare, Zimbabwe. There, a proposal was tabled for the creation of a CITES working group for marine fisheries. The proposal was motivated by concerns that some commercially-exploited fish species might qualify to be listed on the CITES Appendixes.

Some FAO Members were concerned that the CITES criteria and evaluation process might not be appropriate to deal with exploited and managed fishery resources and brought the matter to the COFI Sub-Committee on Fish Trade in Bremen, Germany in June 1998. There it was proposed that FAO should consider the suitability of the CITES listing criteria for commercially-exploited aquatic species and the need for amendments to or appropriate interpretation of the CITES criteria in relation to such species.

Since then, FAO has been working extensively on the listing criteria and the Organization has proposed some significant improvements to the listing criteria for application to commercially-exploited aquatic species. Those recommendations have, so far, been well accepted by CITES and included in their draft, revised criteria for consideration by the 13^th Conference of the Parties in October. In the same field, in July this year FAO will, for the first time, undertake a formal scientific evaluation of listing proposals for four taxa of marine fish and invertebrates that have been submitted for consideration by Cop-13. Again, that contribution from FAO is being encouraged by CITES.

This Experts Consultation, together with the Expert Consultation on "Implementation Issues Associated with Listing Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species on CITES Appendices", held four weeks ago, marks a new direction in FAO work on CITES. With these two Expert Consultations, the Organization is now going beyond the criteria and listing process. Focus is now put also on administrative and monitoring implications of listing commercially-exploited aquatic species on the CITES Appendices and on the legal implications of the CITES listing criteria and of the CITES Convention itself in relation to relevant international law covering fisheries. The first Expert Consultation addressed a number of implementation issues, and made valuable recommendations that could be considered by FAO Members and possibly by CITES as well. This Consultation is intended to address the legal issues, building on the recommendations of the first Consultation, where appropriate. In addressing the legal implications of CITES in relation to international law covering fisheries the Consultation is addressing issues that have not yet received much attention internationally.

The particular issue identified by COFI for consideration at this Consultation include:

• Applications of the phrase "introduction from the sea" in the definition of trade in Article I of the CITES Convention text, including consideration of the administrative costs associated with the various interpretations of this term.

• An analysis of the legal implications of the existing CITES listing criteria and the CITES Convention itself in relation to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and related international law covering fisheries, and of any changes in those implications resulting from adoption of the proposals included in Appendix F to the Report of the FAO Second Technical Consultation.

You have been selected in your individual capacities, not as a representative of the organization you belong to, on the basis of your particular expertise in one or more of these topics and FAO is looking to you to help us to advise and inform Members on the issues, the understanding of CITES in the context of international law relating to fisheries, and how to develop, where necessary, this relationship. The report from this meeting will, I am sure, be received with considerable interest by the 26^th Session of the COFI early next year. Finally, I would like to thank you all for giving up your time to help us in this important task. I would also like to thank the governments of Norway, Japan and the United States for their budgetary contribution which made the convening of this important consultation possible. We look forward to receiving the results of your deliberations.

I wish you a fruitful and enjoyable meeting.

D. Working documents provided as resource material to the Consultation

1. Applications of the Term "Introduction from the sea" by Professor E. Franckx;

2. Legal and Institutional Implications of Listing Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species by Professor E. Franckx;

3. Draft Report of the Expert Consultation on Implementation Issues Associated with Listing Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species on CITES Appendices, FAO, Rome, 25 to 28 May 2004;

4. The Fundamental Principles of CITES;

5. The Administrative and Monitoring Implications of Listing and Down-listing.