# Council Decision (EU) 2019/1719 of 8 July 2019 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP 18) (Geneva, Switzerland, 17-28 August 2019), Division 15

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Elephant poaching and ivory trafficking continue at alarmingly high levels. Also, the level of rhinoceros poaching and rhino horn trafficking continues to be high, undermining conservation efforts and posing a serious threat to rhinoceros populations. Both the Union and its Member States have provided considerable support to African countries in order to improve wildlife conservation and tackle wildlife trafficking. The Union is committed to continuing to stand by its African partners and to increasing its efforts in that regard, in line with the Council Conclusions concerning the Commission Communication on the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking. The Union recognises the conservation efforts made by certain African range States, but the high levels of poaching and trafficking remain of considerable concern for the Union. The Union’s priority for all CITES CoP 18 agenda items relating to these species should be to support action directly addressing those problems.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2019/1719/annex/I/division/Union/division/B/division/15 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2019-1719/annex-I/division-Union/division-B/division-15
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.