The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Concerning Conservation Measures for the Siberian Crane is a Multilateral Environmental Memorandum of Understanding and came into effect on 1 July 1993 and was amended in January 1999. It was the first MoU to be concluded under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention, and focuses on conserving the Siberian crane as one of the three rarest crane species. The MoU covers twelve range states (Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan (vagrant), Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). As of August 2012, eleven range states have signed the MoU.