June 18, 2004

Subject: Lifting of Trade Restrictions on CITES-Listed Wildlife from Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone

Background: On April 30, 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received notice from the CITES Secretariat that Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone failed to create legislation plans or enact adequate CITES legislation as required by the Treaty.

Upon receipt of this information, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service implemented a trade ban on CITES species effective April 30, 2004.

On June 3, 2004 the CITES Secretariat received a draft law on trade in wild fauna and flora (Ley sobre el comercio de fauna y flora silvestres) from Equatorial Guinea.

On May 7, 2004, Mozambique enacted the Ministerial Act on complementary mechanisms for CITES implementation. The Secretariat received a copy of the full text, translated into one of the working languages of the Convention, on 15 June 2004.

On June 15, 2004, Sierra Leone submitted to the Secretariat a CITES Legislation Plan
showing the procedures, actions and time-frames that are needed in order to enact
adequate legislation for implementation of the Convention.

Based on the foregoing, the Secretariat has determined that Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and Sierra Leone have shown good progress in the adoption of legislation for implementing the Convention, thereby satisfying the conditions agreed by the Standing Committee at its 50th meeting (Geneva, March 2004).

Action: Effective immediately, the trade ban on CITES species from Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone has been lifted. The United States will allow the import, export, and the re-export of CITES species with these countries. This bulletin rescinds the bulletin dated May 5, 2004.

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