"CITES told us to give them our (export) figures for 2006 by January 15, and we have done so, so I assume that by the end of January we will get their decision," Mohammad Pourkazemi told reporters.

The official added that Iran's proposed quota for caviar exports was 50.805 tons for 2006. If the export ban is confirmed, then the caviar allocated for foreign markets will be marketed inside Iran, he said.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on January 3 announced a ban on exports except for caviar from fish-farmed sturgeon.

"As of now it is not possible to export caviar and other sturgeon products from shared stocks," CITES said in a statement issued in Geneva.

CITES, which groups 169 states, rejected fishing quotas for sturgeon proposed for 2006 by major exporters, saying they "may not fully reflect the reductions in stocks or make sufficient allowance for illegal fishing".

Iran's quota for 2005 was more than 50 tons but Pourkazemi said his country managed to export only 13 to 14 tons last year. Between March 2004 and last March, it earned 32 million euros (39 million dollars) from caviar exports.

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