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Mr. Michael Canny
Chairman
International Whaling Commission
The Red House, 135 Station Road
Impington, Cambridge CB4 9NP
United Kingdom
Geneva, 4 July 2000
Dear Mr. Canny,
Thank you for the invitation to the CITES Secretariat to
participate as an observer in the 52nd Annual Meeting of the
International Whaling Commission. It will unfortunately not be possible for us
to be represented due to other obligations.
Allow me, however, to make use of this opportunity to express
serious concern about the escalating and increasingly divisive conflict within
the Conference of the Parties to CITES concerning issues related to the
conservation and use of cetaceans. In particular the listing of whale stocks on
Appendix I of CITES, that may in a number of cases be contrary to the biological
criteria for including species or populations in that appendix. The apparent
lack of progress - even the alleged obstruction of progress - at the IWC on
certain issues are equally of concern to many Parties to CITES as it has caused
the transfer of the IWC debate to CITES fora. My prediction that this transfer,
as has happened in recent years, will negatively affect the relationship between
CITES Parties and polarize decision-making within CITES has unfortunately
started to come true.
From my perspective in CITES, it is therefore crucial that
the IWC should soon make important progress towards the adoption of a Revised
Management Scheme. This would allow the Conference of the Parties to CITES to
adopt the appropriate management regime for whale stocks in the CITES
appendices.
I greatly appreciated your presence during the "whaling
debate" at the meeting of the Conference of the Parties in April. You will
have obtained a good picture of the different positions as a result and I
therefore trust you will share the above concerns with me.
I wish you a successful Commission meeting and would be
grateful to hear about its results.
Yours sincerely,
Willem W. Wijnstekers
Secretary General of CITES
Copy: Dr. R. Gambell, Secretary, International Whaling
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