August 9, 2006 12:52:50 PM GMT
Namibian seals - flier and article
hi everyone
Attached is a trifold brochure I created for the seals
along with a summary of the issue condensed down from 47
pages of Francois' emails.
Hope you can find some use for it. Feel free to edit,
substitute your name for contact person in the flier etc.
For the seals,
Menkit
(Australia)
SealAlert-SA wrote:
FYI- Francois.
-----
Original Message -----
From:
SealAlert-SA
To:
John SELLAR
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 2:08 PM
Subject: Re: Trade in seals
Dear
Mr Seller,
Accepted - I will await your findings.
Thank you for replying to these concerns
so promptly.
Francois.
-----
Original Message -----
From:
John SELLAR
To:
sasealion@wam.co.za
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 1:36 PM
Subject: Re: Trade in seals
Dear
Mr Hugo,
I
can only repeat what I told you earlier today - 'sealing'
is not a matter for CITES. It is a domestic
harvesting issue. It also appears to be a matter that
is being determined by a government department that is not
responsible for CITES issues.
The
provisions of CITES come into effect when an application is
made for a CITES export permit. At that stage, the
CITES authorities (the Management Authority and the
Scientific Authority) would require to determine whether
specimens declared for export had been obtained in a
non-detrimental manner and whether they were legally
acquired.
I
appreciate that it may not appear logical if,
theoretically, one was to harvest specimens of a species in
a manner that might arguably predictably be
non-detrimental. However, the Convention does not impose
any obligation for Parties to 'look into the future' in
such a manner. The provisions of the Convention take effect
at the time when an export is being considered and not when
the specimens are being harvested. This is because,
for many species, harvests will include both domestic and
international trade use.
I
offered my original comments by way of clarification and do
so again. I do not, however, intend to enter into
detailed correspondence on this subject. Once I have
anything relevant to communicate to you, I will be in
contact again.
Yours
sincerely,
"SealAlert-SA"
sasealion@wam.co.za
08/08/2006 01:14 PM
To
John.Sellar@cites.org
cc
Subject
Re: Trade in seals
Dear
Mr Sellar,
Thank you for this reply and insight.
I refer to your third paragraph, as an
Appendix II species -
An export permit may be issued only if the specimen was
legally obtained and if the export will not be detrimental
to the survival of the species -
how then is a Namibian 2006 sealing quota on 75% of the
seal population - still 27% below pre-1993 populations
levels - that will see a total pup extermination or
genocidal cull - not considered a matter of the convention.
Considering that these quotas are given to commercial
sealers to export and in which their regulations state they
are required to make use of the whole quota? Bearing in
mind the seal population has still not recovered from the
one third to one half mass die-off's in 1994, 1995, 2000
and in 2001.
Furthermore I refer to your website -
Notification to the Parties no. 2000/060 Geneva 3 November
2000 - Alleged Illicit trade in ivory. I quota - "With
regard to the allegation concerning Namibia ... the
Secretariat responded immediately" (see attached CITES
Notification).
How then can you state CITES does not
investigate allegations?
I understand that CITES does not bring
criminal charges themselves, but does this preclude them
from requesting these charges be laid if allegations are
substantiated or making an official recommendation or
bringing in trade restrictions involving all wildlife
trade?
In light of the seriousness of the information placed
before you by Seal Alert-SA, where for example the Namibian
Minister acknowledged that the seal population still 10%
lower than pre-1993 level, doubled the sealing quota and
then a month after sealing season ended, announced it had
suffered its largest mass die-off from starvation and then
proceeded to export 117 000 skins in 2002, where the US
seized 5000 and South Africa convicted an importer in 2003-
surely these issues should have been addressed as far back
as 1994 - and these sealers and or the Minister charged.
I look forward to receiving a report back as urgently as
possible, in light of the fact, that sealing is already
over one month into its sealing season.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
----- Original Message -----
From:
John.Sellar@cites.org
To:
sasealion@wam.co.za
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 11:26 AM
Subject: Trade in seals
Dear Mr Hugo,
As discussed in our telephone conversation of this morning,
I can confirm receipt of your messages relating to trade in
seal specimens from Namibia. I have passed a copy of your
messages to the CITES Management Authority of Namibia and
have asked it to comment.
Having noted some of the remarks in media articles that you
have provided to us, I believe it may be useful if I make
some comments of clarification beyond those that I made
during our telephone conversation. I trust this will help
avoid any expectations on your behalf that may not reflect
the role and responsibilities of the CITES Secretariat. I
also hope this will help you in any future dealings you may
have with the media and avoid any misunderstandings being
communicated to the media or the general public.
I wish to emphasize again that CITES is a convention that
relates to international trade. Domestic issues, such
as harvesting and culls, are not a matter for the
Convention. Consequently, the "slaughter of seal pups"
cannot be in contravention of CITES, as referred to in one
article.
The CITES Secretariat does not "investigate" allegations.
This is a matter for national authorities. Our role
is to study implementation of the Convention and make any
recommendations that we deem appropriate. Where
necessary, if we believe there is inadequate implementation
of or non-compliance with the provisions of the Convention,
we would bring such matters to the attention of the
Standing Committee or Conference of the Parties and
recommend relevant action. However, in the majority of
cases, we are able to resolve such issues through
communication with the country in question.
The CITES Secretariat does not bring criminal charges
against anyone; whether that is individuals, organizations
or governments. Any prosecutions that take place with
regard to violations of the Convention are a matter for
national prosecution authorities and any charges would be
brought under national legislation and not the
Convention.
I hope the above comments will be of use.
I will advise you of any information we receive in relation
to your allegations.
Yours sincerely,
