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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