Cablegate: Romanian Response to Cites Demarche Talking Points
VZCZCXRO2129
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHBM #0079 0430751
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 120751Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0321
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS BUCHAREST 000079
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/CE ASCHEIBE, OES/ENRC LLOYD GAMBLE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV KSCA CITES AORC UNEP RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIAN RESPONSE TO CITES DEMARCHE TALKING POINTS
REF: A) STATE 6668; B) BUCHAREST 0055
1. This is an Action Request for the Department; please see
paragraph 6. This is a follow-on cable to post's original response
on this issue (ref B).
2. Econoff met with Mr. Silviu Megan, Romania's National CITES
Representative in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, on
February 10 to discuss ref A talking points. Megan stated very
clearly that the European Union member states will arrive at a
consensus EU position and then vote as a block in CITES. Although
he could not guarantee what the EU consensus position would be, he
shared Romania's current views on each proposal.
3. Romania supports the proposals on sharks, coral, and polar
bears. Megan stated that Romania has not yet formed a position on
the snake proposal and will need to better understand the position
of other Asian countries that would be impacted and what financial
contributions would be required to implement it.
4. While he understands the U.S. position on bobcats, Mr. Megan
stated that Romania cannot support the removal of bobcats from Annex
1 at this time. He cited concerns about the difficulty and expense
of distinguishing bobcats from the Eurasian and Iberian Lynx as the
rationale for this position. While he is aware of the online
training developed by the United States, he felt it was too
challenging to implement, particularly at customs inspection points.
5. Although the Ministry of Environment has given initial
authorization for a Romanian delegation to travel to the conference,
final approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still
pending.
6. Action Request: Megan requested information about the U.S.
position on the EU proposal to add the shark species porbeagle
(lamna nasus) and spiny dogfish (squalus acanthias) to CITES
Appendix II. In response to this inquiry, post welcomes any
additional guidance the Department can provide that we can share
with our Romanian interlocutors.
GITENSTEIN