Summary of Conclusions of the. Brussels, 14 th February ) The agenda was adopted without any additional suggestions.

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1 The Member States are invited to note the ACTION points. Summary of Conclusions of the 3 nd MEETING OF THE EU CITES COMMITTEE - TRADE IN SEAL PRODUCTS Brussels, 4 th February 2 - Introduction by the Chairman ) The agenda was adopted without any additional suggestions. 2) Commission update on recent developments The Chairman provided a short overview about the most recent developments and in particular on the following issues: o The technical guidance note setting out an indicative list of the codes of the combined nomenclature that may cover prohibited seal products (see: EURLEX Official Journal C 356/42) was published on 29 December 2 in the Official Journal of the European Union. It was issued in accordance with Article 3(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 7/29 on trade in seal products in view of facilitating the enforcement activities by Member States. o As an additional service, the Commission prepared editable forms of the attesting document which is annexed to the Commission implementing Regulation 737/2. It will be placed on CIRCA shortly. However, Member States are invited not to fill it in online but to download it to their server first. o The Chairman shortly informed the Member States that, in addition to the Case T- 8/ R II Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Others v Parliament and Council against the basic Regulation 7/9, another case T-526/ was filed on 5 January 2 with the General Court, this time against the implementing Regulation. The Chairman clarified that, since legal proceedings were on-going, he was not in the position to provide any substantial information. o A supplementary round of WTO consultations with Canada and Norway took place on December 2 following the entry into force of the Implementing Regulation. Furthermore, on February 2, Canada requested the Dispute Settlement Body under WTO to establish a panel to examine the matter further. o A representative of the Commission Environment Directorate-General provided an update on the new comitology rules under the Lisbon Treaty and its practical implications.

2 3) Notification by Member States of penalties and enforcement In the framework of a study analysing the trade in seal products in the EU and worldwide in the follow-up to the adoption of Regulation (EC) n 7/29, a summary table of information provided by Member States on penalties and enforcement measures was presented and discussed. The main purpose of that exercise was to allow the Commission to evaluate whether the penalties provided for were effective, proportionate and dissuasive and to get a full picture when reporting back to the European Parliament and to the Council. Those Member States, which had not submitted their information, were invited to do so as soon as possible or inform the Commission about the reasons for the delay. (ACTION) Finally, Member States were invited to comment on and/or complete the draft summary table by 25 February 2. (ACTION) 4) Preparation of reporting exercise A draft reporting template was presented in view of facilitating the Member States' work in preparing their respective national reports by 2 November 2. Furthermore, the Chairman pointed out that standardising the format and data input to the extent possible would also allow the Commission to have a comparable set of data available when reporting to the European Parliament and to the Council by 2 November 22. While several Member States appreciated the effort undertaken to make the reporting exercise as user-friendly as possible, doubts were expressed about some questions going beyond the proper reporting obligations and also increasing the administrative burden. Moreover, some Member States considered that some questions should be further refined and clarified. The Chairman underlined that the European Parliament and the Council expect to receive a meaningful report from the Commission on the implementation of the Regulation on trade in seal products in the EU. Filling out a report only in reference to legislation in place would appear relatively unsatisfactory. It would therefore be extremely useful for this first reporting exercise to also cover trade in seal products before the entry into force of the trade ban. He proposed to cover a period starting in 24 up to 2 November 2 and split up into two phases, i.e. 24 to 9/8 (first phase) and 2/8 until actual date of reporting to meet the 2 November deadline (second phase). It was agreed to upload a trial reporting template in Excel format to CIRCA to allow Member States to comment on technical difficulties and improvements to be made. In addition, the Chairman invited all Member States to provide their substantive comments in writing. Both technical and substantive comments should reach the Commission by 25 February 2. (ACTION) 2

3 5) Requests for inclusion in list of recognised bodies state of play Entities in Finland and Sweden have expressed a potential interest in submitting, or have already submitted, a request for inclusion in the list of recognised body in order to be in a position to issue attesting documents. The representatives of Finland and Sweden offered to share their current thinking on the issue with other Member States. The Chairman thanked both countries for their openness to share their ideas about the future mechanism. He pointed out that the key words were to be found in the chapeau of Article 6. of the Implementing Regulation (EU) No 737/2, requiring an entity to demonstrate that it fulfils the requirements as set out further in that article. Furthermore, it would be necessary to provide documentary evidence for statements made in any request. The representative of Denmark reported that consultations were held with Greenland concerning a possible application of a potential entity. He was interested to learn about any other formal consultation or other countries having shown interest. The Chairman said that, for the moment, he was not aware of any other expressions of interest than from Finland, Sweden and possibly Greenland. In concluding on this agenda point, the Chair stressed again that a decision on inclusion in the list of recognised bodies could only be made when all verifiable items would be made available, in particular with regard to the ability to monitor compliance, the issue of independent third party audit and the absence of conflict of interest. 6. Designation by Member States of competent authorities state of play A draft list of designated competent authorities was tabled and circulated via CIRCA. In view of publishing the list as soon as possible on the EUROPA website, Member States were urged to check or submit the relevant information. Those Member States, which are not in a position yet to nominate an authority, should inform the Commission accordingly by indicating the reasons for their delay. Deadline for comments: 25 February 2 after which the Commission will proceed with the publication of the list on its EUROPA website. (ACTION) 7. Exchange of views on the application of Regulation (EC) No 7/29 on trade in seal products and its implementing Regulation (EU) No 737/2 Member States exchanged views on practical aspects of the implementation of the legislation in place. 8. Any other business The Chairman informed the Committee that unless there is an urgent need, no further Committee meeting was planned for this year. 3

4 ATTENDANCE LIST of the CITES COMMITTEE MEETING 3 rd TRADE IN SEAL PRODUCTS Brussels, 4 February 2 MEMBER STATE ORGANISATION PARTICIPANTS AUSTRIA Ministry of the Environment BELGIUM SPF Santé Publique, Sécurité de la chaîne alimentaire et Environnement 2 BULGARIA Ministry of Environment and Water CYPRUS Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment CZECH REPUBLIC Ministry of the Environment DENMARK Ministry of Foreign Affairs ESTONIA Ministry of Environment FINLAND Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry FRANCE GERMANY Ministère de l'ecologie, de l'énergie, du développement durable et de la mer Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection Federal Ministry of food, Agriculture GREECE Ministry of the Environment, Energy & Climate change HUNGARY Ministry of Rural Development IRELAND CITES Management Authorities ITALY Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali LATVIA Dabas aizsardzîbas pârvalde LITHUANIA Ministry of the Environment LUXEMBOURG Ministry of Environment 4

5 MALTA Environment and Planning Authority NETHERLANDS Ministry of Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality POLAND Ministry of Environment PORTUGAL Instituto da Conservação da Natureza ROMANIA Ministry of Environment and Forestry SLOVENIA Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning SLOVAKIA Ministry of Environment SPAIN CITES Management Authorities SWEDEN Swedish Board of Agriculture 2 Ministry of Rural Affairs UNITED KINGDOM DEFRA UK Border Agency 5