President Bush Asks the United States Congress to accede to ACAP

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President George Bush transmitted the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) to the United States Senate on 26 September 2008 for approval. 

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee must now approve the Agreement before it goes to the full Senate for ratification, which requires a two-thirds majority.  An accompanying legislative package to implement the Agreement will also need to be approved by both the House and Senate.  Votes on the Agreement  and implementing legislation are not expected until 2009.

The United States has been an active participant in the work of the Agreement, attending both preparatory meetings and subsequent meetings of ACAP's Advisory Committee and Sessions of the Meeting of  Parties.

For the Whitehouse press release  go to:   

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080926-23.html

For NGO comments on the US initiative to join ACAP go to:

 http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/10/USA_acap.html

 and

http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/080929.html

 More information on the USA and ACAP is at:

http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/seabirds/acap.html.

Posted by John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 October 2008, with help from Jessica Hardesty, American Bird Conservancy.  Updated 18 October 2008 and 29 March 2009

The Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP is a multilateral agreement which seeks to conserve listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters by coordinating international activity to mitigate known threats to their populations.

About ACAP

ACAP Secretariat

119 Macquarie St
Hobart TAS 7000
Australia

Tel: +61 3 6165 6674