On 26 April 2019, the CITES Secretariat announced the postponement of the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP18), originally scheduled to take place from 23 May to 3 June in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as well as the associated 71st and 72nd meetings of the Standing Committee.
The Secretariat has continued to monitor the situation closely through the Sri Lankan authorities and the United Nations Department of Safety and Security. We have also been in consultation with the members of the Standing Committee through the chair of the Standing Committee, who provided their advice on the prospect of the postponement of CoP18.
The Secretariat also continues to work on advancing both the substantive and administrative issues. Delegates may wish to note the following:
- CoP18 Sponsored Delegates’ Project: the Secretariat will contact the delegates whose tickets had already been issued in order to halt their travel arrangements for the time being. No additional travel arrangements are currently being made for the sponsored delegates.
- Participant registration: registration remains open for Parties, and closed for observers – however, there is no need to de-register, or make any changes at this time pending news of the revised arrangements for the meeting.
We will make regular updates regarding the CoP18 preparations available through the CITES Website.
CITES Secretariat
3 May 2019