CITES CoP16 Digest - Species Survival Network
CITES CoP16 Digest - Species Survival Network
CITES CoP16 Digest - Species Survival Network
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DOCUMENT BACKGROUND / CURRENT STATUS EFFECT OF DOCUMENT SSN VIEW<br />
4.2 Proposal to improve<br />
transparency of voting<br />
during meetings of the<br />
Conference of the Parties<br />
Cop16 Doc. 4.2<br />
• Under current RoP, a vote can be held by secret ballot<br />
if a request is seconded by ten Representatives.<br />
• Prepared by Denmark on behalf of EU.<br />
• Proposes changes to Rule 25, para 2 of CoP RoP:<br />
“All votes in respect of the election of officers or of<br />
prospective host countries shall be by secret ballot<br />
when there is more than one candidate and, although<br />
it shall not normally be used, any Representative may<br />
request a secret ballot for other matters. The Presiding<br />
Officer shall ask whether the request is seconded. If it<br />
is seconded by 10 Representatives the vote shall be<br />
by secret ballot. The request for a secret ballot shall<br />
immediately be voted upon. The motion for a secret<br />
ballot may not be conducted by secret ballot.”<br />
• Proposed change would allow a secret ballot if<br />
approved by a simple majority.<br />
SUPPORT<br />
• According to Rule 25, para 2, voting by secret ballot "shall<br />
not normally be used" apart from election of officers or<br />
selection of host countries. However, since CoP9 (when<br />
current RoP came into effect), Parties have taken 69 votes<br />
by secret ballot, including on substantive issues.<br />
• Proposal argues, and SSN agrees, that current practice<br />
of using secret ballots on a regular basis for substantive<br />
issues is undermining the Convention.<br />
• SSN notes that secret ballots make it possible for delegates<br />
to vote contrary to directions from their governments,<br />
impede open and informed discussion of<br />
contentious issues, deny citizens knowledge of their<br />
government’s position, and make it impossible for Parties<br />
to determine at time of voting that their votes have been<br />
correctly recorded.<br />
• SSN recommends that <strong>CITES</strong> align its CoP RoP with those<br />
of other U.N. bodies, including the Ramsar Convention,<br />
the Convention on Migratory <strong>Species</strong>, and, historically,<br />
<strong>CITES</strong> itself, under which votes by secret ballot take place<br />
only when a motion for a secret ballot has been approved<br />
by a majority of Parties present and voting.<br />
4.3 Proposed amendment<br />
to Rule 25 on Methods<br />
of voting – Use of secret<br />
ballots<br />
Cop16 Doc. 4.3<br />
• Under current RoP, a vote can be held by<br />
secret ballot if a request is seconded by ten<br />
Representatives.<br />
• Prepared by Mexico.<br />
• Proposes changes to Rule 25, para 2: “All votes in<br />
respect of the election of officers or of prospective<br />
host countries shall be by secret ballot when there<br />
is more than one candidate and, although it shall not<br />
normally be used, any Representative may request a<br />
secret ballot for other matters. The Presiding Officer<br />
shall ask whether the request is seconded. If it is seconded<br />
by 10 one third of the Representatives, the vote<br />
shall be by secret ballot. The vote on the motion for a<br />
secret ballot shall not proceed through secret ballot.”<br />
• See SSN’s position on secret ballots under SSN View for<br />
Cop16 Doc. 4.2 (above).<br />
• SSN fully shares Mexico’s concerns regarding the present<br />
practice of non-transparent voting and welcomes this proposal.<br />
However, SSN believes that EU’s proposal, which<br />
would require a simple majority approval, is preferable.<br />
7. Report of UNEP<br />
Cop16 Doc. 7<br />
• Article XII, par 1 of the Convention states that,<br />
“a Secretariat shall be provided by the Executive<br />
Director of the United Nations Environment<br />
Programme (UNEP)”.<br />
• Prepared by UNEP.<br />
• Reports that a memorandum of understanding (MOU)<br />
was signed between SC and Executive Director of<br />
UNEP in 2011; and provides information about support<br />
provided by UNEP to <strong>CITES</strong> and cooperation between<br />
the two bodies.<br />
• No comment.<br />
www.ssn.org<br />
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