Briefing on the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES

A briefing focusing on the preparations of the upcoming 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP18), to be held in Geneva, Palexpo, from 17 to 28 August 2019, took place at the International Environment Houe on Wednesday 10 July.

Background

The 2019 conference will adopt a wide range of decisions to expand and strengthen the global wildlife trade regime. A key highlight will be the 57 proposals that governments have submitted for changing the levels of protection afforded to over 500 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and plants.

The 71st and 72nd meetings of the Standing Committee will be held at the same venue on 16 August and 28 August respectively.

Agenda

Welcome and introduction

10:30
Bruno POZZI, Director, Europe Office, UN Environment Programme

10.35
Ivonne HIGUERO, Secretary-General, CITES Secretariat

CITES CoP18 – the big issues

10:50
Changes to the CITES Appendices and elephant discussions at CoP18
Tom DE MEULENAER, Chief, Scientific Services, CITES Secretariat

11.00
Enforcement issues – combating illegal wildlife trade
Pia JONSSON, Enforcement Support Officer, Enforcement Support, CITES Secretariat

11:10
Capacity-building and traceability of products in trade
Haruko OKUSU, Chief, Knowledge Management & Outreach, CITES Secretariat

11:20
Law and compliance
Juan Carlos VASQUEZ, Chief, Legal Affairs & Compliance, CITES Secretariat

11.30
Strategic Vision of CITES, future work programme and budget
Ivonne HIGUERO, Secretary-General, CITES Secretariat
Susanne BENGTSSON, Team Leader, Administrative Services, CITES Secretariat

CITES CoP18 – your questions answered

Q&A

Summary

The CITES Secretariat presentation is available online. The other documents & links presented are available in the respective section of this page.
All Parties have received a unique registration link sent on 10 or 11 January 2019 to the email addresses of the Management Authorities listed in the CITES online directory. All Observers registered for CoP17 have also receive a similar link on the same dates.
Please note that to obtain a priority pass and a letter of invitation for visa purposes, an advanced copy of the credentials has to be sent to registration@cites.org.
Enquiries about registration should be sent to registration@cites.org.
Badges for the participants will be delivered from 15 August.

Read the CITES Secretariat Summary of this briefing.