Dear Sirs,
In March 2013 the next CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP) will be held in Bangkok, Thailand. All countries who are a party in CITES assemble and take decisions on proposals on procedural matters, but also on which species should be listed in CITES legislation.
One of the proposals for the next CoP is from Colombia to list three species of freshwater stingrays in CITES Appendix II. The species concerned are Paratrygon aiereba, Potamotrygon motoro and Potamotrygon schoederi.
Listing of these species in Appendix II will have serious effects on the trade.
After listing, export of specimens of these species will require an export permit, which will increase the costs for the customers. Europe will in addition require an import permit before allowing imports, which will increase the costs for the importer even more. The administrative burden will be for both exporter and importer.
OFI’s position in CITES proposals, is a clear one: If species need protection, if the arguments are sound, we will support proposals. But if we find the arguments are not sound, the species are not endangered by trade; we will recommend against listing.
To decide on our position we need information for the industry. We would highly appreciate if collectors, breeders, importers, exporters, retailers, governments could help us and fill in below questionnaire.
Thank you for your help!
With kind regards,
Alex Ploeg
