4 November 2013: A meeting to discuss a traceability system that will ensure a sustainable and legal supply of South-East Asian python skins took place in Geneva, Switzerland on 17-18 October 2013. Participants, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) management authorities of Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam, representatives of the private sector, including of luxury brands, and members of the Secretariats of CITES and of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), discussed current and proposed projects connected to traceability issues, including barcode and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagging, DNA and stable isotope traceability projects, and public-private partnerships for sustainability and database-management systems.

Discussants also considered a draft study titled ‘Traceability Systems for a Sustainable International Trade in South-East Asian Python Skins.’ The aim of the study was to gather information on current options for traceability systems that could be applied to the trade in South-East Asian python skins to ensure that it meets CITES criteria. The information from this report, along with information that the CITES Secretariat may obtain from other sources, will be presented to the Animals Committee and the Standing Committee in 2014 and 2015. The Committees will then make recommendations for consideration by the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (COP 17) in 2016. [CITES News] [UNCTAD News]