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Yesterday I reported on the efforts of the Ornithological Council,
American Society of Mammalogists, and the Society for the
Preservation of Natural History Collections to have the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service suspend or revoke the U.S. requirement for
validation of CITES permits (as to scientific imports &
exports).<br>
<br>
However, this is not just a U.S. problem. Other countries are also
requiring validation and the origin of the problem was a resolution
made at a Conference of the Parties some years ago.<br>
<br>
Ultimately, the best solution is to ask the CITES Standing Committee
to suspend or revoke the resolution as to scientific shipments.<br>
<br>
The official languages of CITES are English, French, and Spanish. I
need <b>volunteers to translate the letter</b> to the Standing
Committee into those languages. <br>
<br>
Ideally, we should have it translated into one or more of the
official languages of the members of the <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.cites.org/eng/com/sc/member.php&k=dpQisR3avULHgiNaNeY%2Btg%3D%3D%0A&r=Cj4FMI2iDPlEjbn4EXNux4WH0ww1pUvJZ5NUtLyPOEs%3D%0A&m=7umB5wuN%2BLm6C5cnYJQad9KMYFCyw9V3nIgYtPWg0wQ%3D%0A&s=61a5cbb9097b86589c3cff50112e5ab64dd4773267cd6a3c93daae7dada486a7">Standing
Committee[cites.org]</a>:<br>
<br>
Botswana: English<br>
Namibia: English<br>
Egypt: Literary Arabic<br>
Madagascar: French, Malagasy<br>
Niger: French<br>
Republic of the Congo: French<br>
Uganda: Swahili, English<br>
Ethiopia: Amharic<br>
<br>
If anyone knows someone who can translate into Arabic, Swahili, and
Amharic, please let me know. <br>
<br>
Second, we need <b>in-country coordinators</b> for as many
countries as possible. Once translated, I plan to ask researchers
and museums all over the world to sign on. <br>
<br>
Ideally, these coordinators would send the letter to their own CITES
Management Authority, so it is coming from in-country organizations
and individuals. The coordinators would also follow-up on the letter
by contacting their CITES Management Authorities directly and by
organizing researchers and museums in each country to send requests
to have the validation requirement suspended or revoked at the next
CITES COP (date, location as yet unknown; likely to be 2016). <br>
<br>
Finally, as the outcome of such a campaign is never certain, we
really ought to take other, more certain and permanent measures to
deal with this problem. Namely - the more wide-spread use of
Certificates of Scientific Exchange. There are still some countries
that have no registered scientific institutions and most countries
have few. I propose to write a letter that (after translation into
the appropriate language) can be sent by in-country individuals and
museums and other research institutions to their CITES Management
Authority, asking them to use this procedure, as well as a letter
for museums to use to request registration. So again, the in-country
coordinators would be needed for this effort, too.<br>
<br>
Please contact me if you are interested or can help find people who
might be willing to help.<br>
<br>
Thanks.<br>
<br>
Ellen Paul<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Ellen Paul
Executive Director
The Ornithological Council
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ellen.paul@verizon.net">ellen.paul@verizon.net</a>
"Providing Scientific Information about Birds<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET&k=dpQisR3avULHgiNaNeY%2Btg%3D%3D%0A&r=Cj4FMI2iDPlEjbn4EXNux4WH0ww1pUvJZ5NUtLyPOEs%3D%0A&m=7umB5wuN%2BLm6C5cnYJQad9KMYFCyw9V3nIgYtPWg0wQ%3D%0A&s=8fee2f4b10522fe1e3cd88bdae4e26f9c016005dda3ca4b43fbaad14d9d141ae">"
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET"[nmnh.si.edu]</a>
</pre>
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