Regulation (EC) No 338/97 lists animal and plant species in respect of which trade is restricted or controlled. Those lists incorporate the lists set out in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), hereinafter ‘the Convention’.

The following species have been included recently in Appendix III to the Convention: Calyptocephalella gayi at the request of Chile; Agrias amydon boliviensis, Morpho godartii lachaumei, and Prepona praeneste buckleyana at the request of Bolivia; Cedrela fissilis and Cedrela lilloi (both with annotation) at the request of Bolivia; Cedrela odorata (with annotation) at the request of Bolivia and Brazil; Lodoicea maldivica at the request of the Seychelles; Pinus koraiensis at the request of Russia.

The amendments made to Appendix III to the Convention therefore necessitate amendments to Annex C of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 338/97.

It has been established that the introduction of live specimens belonging to three squirrel species (Callosciurus erythraeus, Sciurus carolinensis and Sciurus niger) into the natural habitat of the Union would constitute an ecological threat to endangered wild species of fauna indigenous to the Union. Threats, and/or potential threats, to the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), as well as to plant communities and habitats have been demonstrated or anticipated by several ad hoc studies and surveys. Threats for the Eurasian red squirrel are a combination of competitive exclusion (over food resources or habitat) and resistance to disease. Threats on ecosytems include predation on birds’ eggs and chicks and competition with woodland birds for nest sites and food, and damage to woodland and timber plantations through bark-stripping. Specimens of those three invasive species are currently traded into the Union and the species should therefore be included in Annex B of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 in accordance with Article 3(2)(d) thereof.

Trade in specimens from the species Haliotis midae needs to be monitored. This species should therefore be included in Annex D of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 338/97.

A definition of the term ‘cultivar’ should be inserted in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 in order to implement CITES Resolution Conf. 11.11 (Rev. CoP 15) on Regulation of Trade in Plants.

In order to distinguish between wild and artificially propagated specimens of Tillandsia xerographica, this species already included in Annex B needs to be accompanied by an annotation which specifies that trade of artificially propagated specimens is allowed only for those specimens which possess certain recognizable morphological characteristics (cataphylls).

An inconsistency in the nomenclatural references in Annex D of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 as regards the family Gerrhosauridae should be corrected.

Regulation (EC) No 338/97 should therefore be amended accordingly. In view of the extent of the amendments it is appropriate, for clarity purposes, to replace the Annex to that Regulation in its entirety.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora established pursuant to Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 338/97,