The Secretariat shall: a) with funding already provided, establish and convene a CITES Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles Task Force (Task Force) to operate, as described in Decision 17.296. The members of the Task Force could include theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the members of the ICCWC, Madagascar and those Parties in Asia that are most affected by the illegal trade in tortoises and freshwater turtles and their parts and derivatives and other individuals who the Secretariat determines may contribute to the work of the Task Force; b) seek funding to support the work and additional meetings of the Task Force through the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties; c) work to establish a secure electronic communications platform for the Task Force [i.e. the CENComm Environet of theWorld Customs Organization (WCO)]; d) transmit the findings and recommendations of the Task Force, under Decision 17.296 c), to the 69th meeting of the Standing Committee for its consideration, and make its own recommendations as appropriate; and, e) transmit to the Standing Committee, for consideration at its 70th meeting, a progress report on the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations by the Parties, as described in Decision 17.298 c).