U.N. raps 7 nations over wildlife trade

GENEVA — Seven nations stand to lose their ability to legally trade tens of thousands of wildlife species after U.N. conservation delegates agreed Thursday to penalize them for lacking tough regulations or failing to report on their wildlife trade.

The suspensions against the seven nations - Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Paraguay, Nepal, Rwanda, Solomon Islands and Syria - were approved by consensus among the delegates and would take effect Oct. 1.

They would prevent the countries from legally trading in any of the 35,000 species regulated by the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, said Juan Carlos Vasquez, a spokesman for the U.N. Environment Program in Geneva, which administers the treaty.

To avoid the sanctions, and the prospect of losing millions of dollars in commerce, the seven must now draw up the required legislation or submit their missing annual reports to the regulatory organization by Oct. 1.