Interpretation and implementation of the Convention Trade control and marking DEVELOPMENT OF A TIMBER IDENTIFICATION DIRECTORY FOR CITES-LISTED SPECIES

behalf of the European Union (EU) in relation to agenda item 14 on “Review of identification and guidance material (Decision 16.59)”. 2. It provides a summary of ongoing work by TRAFFIC to create a “Timber Identification Directory for CITES-listed Species ” supported by the European Union (EU) and its Member States, with more detail on identification techniques and expertise, in addition to examples from the directory, provided in the Annex. Background 3. In May 2013 the European Commission initiated a consultation amongst EU Member States, in keeping with Decision 16.60 c), to establish their main concerns and needs in relation to ensuring the successful implementation of the new timber species Appendix II listings agreed at CoP16. One principal issue highlighted by several EU Member States in their feedback related to the need for further support in identifying timber specimens in trade, in particular for enforcement purposes. It was suggested that the amalgamation of sources of information on institutes and experts able to identify CITES listed timber products could be particularly useful for this purpose. 4. The Commission consequently asked TRAFFIC to initiate the process and to start collecting available information on institutions with morphological or molecular timber identification expertise, details of experts in timber identification and tools/manuals available to help authorities with identification (Phase 1). It is intended that this information be brought together in the form of a directory / directories, with the aim of providing this to all CITES Parties in the future (Phase 2). Progress 5. TRAFFIC is currently working on Phase 1 of directory development and to date has contacted over 30 plant and timber specialists with wood anatomy (macroscopic and microscopic), chemistry, DNA an