Endangered Species Convention: convention certificates for caviar; nonacceptance policy,

[Federal Register: December 6, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 233)]

[Notices]

[Page 68113-68114]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr06de99-73]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service RIN 1018-AF66

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Carrying Out the Inclusion of All Species of the Order Acipenseriformes (Sturgeon and Paddlefish) in the Appendices to CITES

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of policy.

SUMMARY: We will no longer issue or accept for import any ``pre- Convention'' certificates for caviar. A pre-Convention certificate for caviar documents that the caviar pre-dates April 1, 1998, the effective date of the listing of all previously unlisted species of the Order Acipenseriformes (sturgeon and paddlefish) in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

DATES: This policy is effective on December 6, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teiko Saito, Chief, Office of Management Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, telephone (703) 358-2093, fax (703) 358-2280.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To make sure that commercial demand does not threaten the survival of wild sturgeon, the Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (COP10) adopted a proposal on June 20, 1997, to include all previously unlisted species of the Order Acipenseriformes (sturgeon and paddlefish) in Appendix II of CITES, effective April 1, 1998. Therefore, all international shipments of sturgeon and paddlefish specimens or their parts and products, including caviar, made on or after April 1, 1998, must include a valid CITES export permit, re-export certificate, or pre-Convention certificate, which shows that the CITES treaty is being followed.

We have issued pre-Convention certificates for the re-export of caviar only when we were satisfied that it was imported before April 1, 1998. We have learned from the sturgeon products industry and others that the normal shelf life for caviar is 12 months. On the effective date of this policy, the normal shelf life of any caviar imported before April 1, 1998, will have been exceeded by more than 8 months. In addition, it has become evident since April 1, 1998, that the false declaration of caviar as having been acquired before April 1, 1998, is a means of circumventing the CITES treaty. So, we will no longer issue pre-Convention certificates for caviar.

On March 12, 1999, the CITES Secretariat issued Notification to the Parties No. 1999/23, which recommends that no permits or certificates declaring pre-Convention caviar should be accepted after April 1, 1999. Consistent with that recommendation, we will no longer accept pre- Convention certificates for the importation of Appendix II sturgeon caviar into the United States.

For imports, this policy does not affect aquaculture-produced caviar or caviar harvested from the wild after April 1, 1998, which will continue to be allowed with a valid CITES export permit from the country of origin or a valid CITES re-export certificate from the country of re-export. For exports or re-exports from the United States, this policy does not affect aquaculture-produced caviar or caviar acquired from the wild after April 1, 1998, if a valid CITES permit or re-export certificate is issued and accompanies the shipment.

On October 26, 1999, we published a proposed policy [64 FR 57645] that we would no longer issue or accept for import any pre-Convention certificates for caviar. Effective [date of publication], we are going to carry out this policy.

Comments and Information Received

Comments were received from one conservation organization. This organization strongly supported the proposed policy to no longer issue or accept pre-Convention certificates for caviar.

Required Determinations

This document has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866.

The Department of the Interior certifies that this document will not have a significant effect on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). This policy would restrict the sturgeon industry within the United States from engaging in foreign commerce with pre-Convention caviar that is, according to industry representatives, perhaps no longer available, and if available, only in very limited quantities at greatly reduced value. We estimate that there would likely be less than 100 businesses with remaining stocks of pre-Convention caviar. Any such caviar has exceeded its normal shelf life and has decreased in value dramatically. Therefore, this policy is restricting the sturgeon industry within the United States from engaging in commerce, under an exemption of CITES, with a commodity that may no longer even be available, and if available, only in very limited quantities at greatly reduced value. Therefore, it does not appear likely that this policy will have a significant economic effect on a substantial number of small entities as defined under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. It should be noted that this policy will not restrict members of the sturgeon products industry from conducting business with caviar that has been obtained after April 1, 1998. Only the availability of the pre-Convention exemption for caviar is terminated by this policy.

Similarly, this policy is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804(2), the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act.

This policy does not impose an unfunded mandate of more than $100 million per year or have a significant or unique effect on State, local, or tribal governments or the private sector

[[Page 68114]]

because we, as the lead agency for CITES implementation in the United States, are responsible for the authorization of shipments of live wildlife, or their parts and products, that are subject to the requirements of CITES.

Under Executive Order 12630, this policy does not have significant takings implications for the same reason as described above under the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

Under Executive Order 13132, this policy does not have sufficient federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment because there are no effects on State management programs.

Under Executive Order 12988, the Office of the Solicitor has determined that this policy does not unduly burden the judicial system and meets the requirements of Sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of the Order.

This policy does not contain new or revised information collection for which Office of Management and Budget approval is required under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Information collections associated with CITES permits is covered by an existing OMB approval, and is assigned clearance No. 1018-0093, Form 3-200-27, with an expiration date of January 31, 2001. Details of the information collection requirements for CITES documentation appear at Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 23.15(g). The Service may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

This policy does not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Therefore, an environmental impact statement is not required. This policy is categorically excluded from further National Environmental Policy Act requirements, under Part 516 of the Departmental Manual, Chapter 2, Appendix 1.10.

Executive Order 12866 requires each agency to write regulations that are easy to understand. The one comment that we received did not include any suggestions on how to make the proposed policy easier to understand.

Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551-553), our normal practice is to publish policies with a 30-day delay in effective date. But in this case, we are using the ``good cause'' exemption under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to make this policy effective upon publication for the following reasons: (1) We have learned in discussions we have had with the sturgeon products industry and others that the normal shelf life for caviar is 12 months, so there should no longer be available any pre-Convention caviar imported before April 1, 1998. (2) On the effective date of this policy, the normal shelf life of any caviar imported before April 1, 1998, will have been exceeded by more than 8 months, and we have learned in discussions we have had with the sturgeon products industry that this caviar would be of very low quality and may be unhealthy for consumption. (3) As a party to CITES, it is our responsibility to carry out promptly our obligations under the treaty, and we interpret our obligations to include the prompt implementation of the CITES Secretariat's prudent recommendation that no permits or certificates declaring pre-Convention caviar should be accepted after April 1, 1999. (4) Recent correspondence from the CITES Secretariat indicates that the European Union has already prohibited the trade in pre-Convention caviar. (5) We have shown the urgency of this situation by the fact that, in the proposed policy published on October 26, 1999 [64 FR 57645], the comment period was reduced from the usual 60 days to only 15 days.

Dated: November 29, 1999. Donald J. Barry, Assistant Secretary--Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

[FR Doc. 99-31449Filed12-3-99; 8:45 am]

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