INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Argentina's Response to Cites Cop 15 Demarche

Published: Wed 17 Feb 2010 06:44 PM
VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHBU #0184 0481847
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171844Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0535
INFO MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000184
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV KSCA AORC UNEP AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA'S RESPONSE TO CITES COP 15 DEMARCHE
REF: STATE 6668
1. On February 16, ESTCouns delivered reftel demarche to the
Environment Secretariat's CITES representative Guillermo Lingua and
CITES experts Maria Tonelli and Luis Arenas. All three will be
part of Argentina's delegation at COP 15. While Lingua did not
expect any Argentine objections to the USG submissions at CITES COP
15, he pointed out that official GOA positions on reftel points
still had to be discussed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
the Fisheries Bureau.
2. On the issue of sharks, Lingua noted that the GOA would likely
come out in favor of the FAO ruling. He added that the shark
species of concern to Argentina are different from those in the
U.S. submission, and closer to the list submitted by the EU and
Palau.
3. The GOA does not have any objections to the USG position on
coral, polar bears and bobcat, Lingua said, but will listen to
remarks presented by other interested parties. Regarding snakes,
he said that the GOA does not have any objections but will be
attentive to the reactions of Asian countries. He pointed out that
Argentina's main problem with snakes is illegal trafficking of
skins and pets.
MARTINEZ
MARTINEZ
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