The 49th meeting of the Standing Committee is (provisionally) scheduled for 22-25 April 2003, in Geneva. Papers will be available on the CITES Secretariat's website nearer the time.

These 1 day (SC47) and 1 hour (SC48) meetings took place immediately before and after the 12^th Conference of Parties in Santiago, primarily to agree handling issues for the conference and confirm conference outcomes of relevance to the committee. At SC47 the Standing Committee also reviewed progress made by the United Arab Emirates in adopting a federal law to implement CITES and decided to withdraw its previously imposed trade ban. SC47 also considered whether the temporary withdrawal of a trade ban against Fiji should be confirmed. The Secretariat reported that Fiji had developed draft legislation to be tabled in Parliament during November 2002, but that adoption was unlikely before early 2003. The temporary lifting of the trade ban was therefore not confirmed. [N. B. Following SC47, in December 2002, Fiji provided additional information which enabled the CITES Secretariat to verify Fiji’s compliance with an agreed action plan enabling the Secretariat to confirm temporary withdrawal of the trade ban. The Standing Committee will review Fiji’s legislative progress at SC49 and decide whether the trade ban should be re-imposed or definitively withdrawn.]

The provisional agenda and working programme for CoP12 were discussed and agreed and information given on the venue and domestic arrangements available in Santiago. CoP12 Rules of Procedure were debated and a number of detailed changes proposed.

This included discussion of how to deal with Parties consistently late in paying their subscriptions to the CITES Trust Fund and those making no payments at all. It was agreed that Parties on the list of late/non payers should submit a compliance action plan to the Secretariat and commit to settle their arrears by a set deadline. The Secretariat’s budget for 2003-05 was also discussed and it was agreed that the budget put to CoP12 for approval should be based on a zero growth option.

National Legislation - It was agreed that:

• The Dominican Republic and Mozambique should submit legislation plans to the CITES Secretariat by 31 May 2002 with a view to securing implementation by 31 October 2002. If this deadline is missed trade will be suspended, although an exceptional extension to 31 march 2003 may be allowed if good progress has been made in the meantime.
• Cameroon, Panama, Poland, the Russian Federation, South Africa and Thailand should submit legislation plans by 31 May 2002 with a view to adoption by 31 January 2003, with a possibility of extension to 31 March 2003 if good progress has been made in the interim.
• It was agreed to temporarily lift a trade ban imposed previously on Fiji providing a number of conditions were met.

Enforcement matters - It was agreed that:

• The United Arab Emirates should remain subject to a trade ban but that this should be lifted in 3 phases as follows:

• The Russian Federation was congratulated on progress made in regulating domestic trade in caviar.
• The Democratic Republic of Congo should remain subject to a trade ban until shortcomings identified in a report submitted by the CITES Secretariat have been addressed. [N. B. After two verification missions, and extensive communications with the DRC’s ministry of land management, environment and tourism and with cites authorities, the secretariat subsequently determined that the DRC had fulfilled the conditions established at SC46 and in December 2002 the trade ban was lifted.]

Tibetan Antelope: China reported that it was working with the Secretariat on developing measures to assist with anti-poaching work and welcomed the prospect of a needs assessment mission.

Tigers: Thailand explained why it was unable to participate at the last meeting of the Global Tiger Forum and outlined its efforts to heighten awareness of tiger conservation and secure compliance with legislation. Thailand also indicated it would welcome a CITES technical mission on tigers. The UK offered to assist with the funding of such a mission.