| Directed to the Secretariat | |||
| 16.40 | Subject to available resources, the Secretariat shall: | ||
| a) in cooperation with partners in the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime, establish Wildlife Incident Support Teams (WISTs) consisting of enforcement staff or relevant experts. WISTs shall be dispatched at the request of a country that has been affected by significant poaching of CITES specimens, or that has made a large-scale seizure of such specimens, to assist it, and guide and facilitate appropriate follow-up actions in the immediate aftermath of such an incident. The Secretariat shall report on progress in this regard at the 65th or 66th meeting of the Standing Committee, as appropriate; and | |||
| b) seek invitations from Parties that have carried out significant seizures of CITES specimens, for the Secretariat, or relevant experts, to conduct assessments of the circumstances of such seizures and the follow-up actions that were taken, so that lessons may be learned and disseminated. The Secretariat shall report its findings in this regard at the 65th and 66th meetings of the Standing Committee, as appropriate. | |||