Representatives from the U.S. government participated in the 18^th meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) held in Geneva, Switzerland August 17-28. The delegation, led by Robert Wallace, Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and Margaret Everson, Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, also included representatives of the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Agriculture, NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, as well as committee staff from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. The Convention, held every two or three years, brings together nations from around the world to discuss the legal and illegal international trade of wildlife and plants.

“It has been uplifting to see the collaboration and cooperation between the Parties as we worked together on some very challenging issues to achieve goals of mutual benefit to all of us,” said Everson on the last day of the Conference. “The work we do together is critical to both economic and wildlife health around the world.”

The U.S. was actively engaged on a number of issues related to international trade including co-sponsoring five proposals that were all adopted by the CoP. The U.S. proposals related to Saiga antelope, sea cucumbers, the tokay gecko, pancake tortoise, and parachute/tarantula/ornamental spiders. The U.S. also supported a proposal to regulate and monitor trade in giraffes and another to reduce the regulatory burden around the import of certain species of rosewood. Specific details about the U.S. Negotiating Positions on agenda items and species proposals can be found on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website.