Our review of the 38,000 comments and suggestions to the USFWS for the next CITES Conference of the Parties also disclosed that the same protectionists are again attempting to get the USFWS to narrow the definition of “hunting trophy” used by CITES. They caused the USFWS to adopt its 2007 regulation that had eliminated crafted items, and now they are at it again because the Parties at CoP15 revised the related Resolution to make it clear for all that “manufactured parts” from the trophy were included in the definition. The USFWS is in the process of adopting that CoP Resolution with some conditions we have formally objected to, but the same three protectionist organizations want the USFWS to challenge the traditional understanding of “trophy” again at the next CoP. “SSN (Editor note: Species Survival Network) recommends that the Service propose amendments to the definition of ‘hunting trophy’ included in Resolution Conf. 12.3 (Rev. CoP15) on Permits and Certificates, to address the implementation and enforcement problems created by including processed and manufactured products in this definition….The United States is the largest importer of hunting trophies of CITES-listed species…(and) hunting organizations are already exploiting (the broader traditional definition)…’to reduce regulatory hurdles to importation’.” Who would think that protectionists could change the definition of “trophy?” Well, they did, and they are trying again.
They also described quotas set by the Parties at a CoP to be a “loophole” that should be “reviewed and renewed at each CoP” and to “remove the presumptions” to “accept the quotas….” Of course, the antis already convinced USFWS to do this for US imports in the 2007 regulations, but now want the USFWS to impose their views on the rest of the world.
Conservation Force, IPHA, SCI, FACE and CIC and affected range countries were at CoP15 to recapture the traditional definition of “trophy” and will be at CoP16 to protect your interests again as necessary.
