<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif">Dear
Members of the Medicinal Plants Working Group,</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif">Although
we realize that most of the members of this email group are not involved in the
fragrance and personal care products industries, we are hopeful that some of
you work in those industries (or know people who work in those industries) and would be able to assist us with this
exercise. The Parties to the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
are examining the international trade in orchids and orchid products. All species of orchids are included in the
CITES Appendices and are listed in such a way that CITES documents are required
to trade internationally in all parts and derivatives except seeds, pollen, and
seedlings when shipped under certain conditions. <span></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif">For
the personal care products, fragrance, and cosmetic industries, this means that
CITES export permits are required to trade internationally in everything from
the raw plant parts, to the processed material and extract, to the finished products
traded for the retail trade. The point
of the current exercise is to determine if it would be reasonable from a conservation
standpoint to exempt finished products from CITES controls, using the guiding
principles that CITES controls should focus on those commodities that first
appear in international trade as exports from range States and those that dominate
the trade and demand for the wild resource.
At the end of the exercise, it may be possible to contemplate exempting finished
products for certain orchid species or higher taxa, for example, if the range
countries are exporting raw material and the additional processing takes place
in second and third countries; or if the overwhelming majority of the trade in a particular species is in artificially propagated specimens and it can be reasonably concluded
that the trade is not impacting wild populations.<span></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif">To
help inform these discussion, Switzerland, which is leading these discussions
in CITES, has developed a questionnaire (see here for a link to the Notification to the Parties providing the background information and key links: <a href="https://www.cites.org/sites/default/files/notif/E-Notif-2018-004.pdf">https://www.cites.org/sites/default/files/notif/E-Notif-2018-004.pdf</a> and this page for a link to the questionnaire - it is under 2018/004: <a href="https://www.cites.org/eng/notif/2014.php">https://www.cites.org/eng/notif/2014.php</a></font><span style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif">). If
you are involved in the personal care products, fragrance, or cosmetics
industries and use orchids in your products, we would greatly appreciate
receiving your answers to this questionnaire.
You may answer the questionnaire directly using the link provided in the
Notification, submit the questionnaire to the Chair of the working group using the
email address provided in the Notification, or submit your responses to us
(please send to Anne St. John at <a href="mailto:anne_stjohn@fws.gov">anne_stjohn@fws.gov</a>) and we will provide them
to the working group. If you intend to
answer using any of these options, we would greatly appreciate being informed of
your participation. Thank you for your
assistance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif">Regards,<span></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif">Anne
St. John</font></p><div class="gmail_extra"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><font face="times new roman, serif">Anne St. John, Biologist</font><div><font face="times new roman, serif">Wildlife Trade and Conservation Branch<br></font><div><font face="times new roman, serif">Division of Management Authority</font></div><div><font face="times new roman, serif">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</font></div><div><font face="times new roman, serif">5275 Leesburg Pike</font></div><div><font face="times new roman, serif">Falls Church, VA 22041-3803</font></div><div><font face="times new roman, serif">Email: <a href="mailto:anne_stjohn@fws.gov" target="_blank">anne_stjohn@fws.gov</a></font></div><div><font face="times new roman, serif">Tel: 703-358-1990</font></div></div></div></div>
</div></div>