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Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

www.CITES.org

Introduction to CITES

© Copyright CITES Secretariat 2005© Copyright CITES Secretariat 2005

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Overview

• What is CITES?

• How CITES works

• The benefits of CITES

• Partnerships

• CITES in the region

• Summary

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WhatWhat isis CITES?CITES?

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CITES• CITES is the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

• It is also known as the Washington Convention, as it was signed in Washington D.C.

• CITES was signed on 3 March 1973, and entered into force on 1 July 1975

…in operation for 30 years

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CITES

• CITES was ‘born’ from a resolution adopted by theeighth General Assembly of IUCN held in Nairobi in 1963, which expressed concern about the wildlifetrade and called for a mechanism to regulate thistrade

• The drafting of the text started in 1964, and afterseveral worldwide consultations the final text wasadopted in Washington in 1973

• It has now become one of the largestconservation oriented Conventions

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CITES

169…is relevant to an ever-increasing number of Parties

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CITES

• CITES is an agreement between governments, to ensure that wild fauna and flora in international tradeare not exploited unsustainably

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CITES

• CITES is an international convention that combines wildlife and trade themes with a legally binding instrument for achieving conservation and sustainable use objectives

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Examples of trade - animals

• Primates

• Hunting trophies

• Birds of prey

• Parrots & parakeets

• Crocodilians

• Snakes & lizards

• Turtles & tortoises

• Live aquarium specimens

• Food fishes

• Spiders & butterflies

• Molluscs & corals

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Examples of trade - plants

• Orchids

• Cacti & succulents

• Bulbs (Snowdrops, Cyclamens)

• Medicinal plants

• Ornamental trees

• Timber species

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Mapping CITES trade

Major importing areas

North AmericaEurope

East Asia

Major importing & exporting areasAsia

Southern AfricaMiddle East

OceaniaEastern Europe

Major exporting areas

South AmericaCentral America

AfricaAsia

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Perception of the public…

of Government…

and traders…

Popular perceptions of CITES

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Misconceptions about CITES

• CITES deals with all aspects of wildlife conservation

– CITES deals only with international trade in certain species included in its Appendices

• CITES aims to ban all wildlife trade

– CITES aims to regulate international trade (for some species trade is highly restricted)

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Misconceptions about CITES

• CITES regulates domestic trade

– CITES can only address international trade

• The CITES Appendices are a listing of the world’s endangered species– The Appendices only list those species that are or may

be affected by international trade

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Misconceptions about CITES

• CITES imposes trade restrictions on developing countries– Both producer and consumer countries have

responsibility for conserving and managing resources; CITES creates the means for international cooperation and decision-making

• The CITES Secretariat issues permits to authorize trade in CITES specimens- Permits are only issued by the Management Authority of

each Party to CITES

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HowHow CITES CITES worksworks

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How CITES works

• The Convention establishes an international legal framework with commonprocedural mechanisms for the prevention of international commercial trade in endangered species, and for an effective regulation of international trade in others

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How CITES works• This framework and common procedural mechanism is now used

by 169 countries (the Conference of the Parties) to regulate and monitor international trade in wild resources

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Conference of the Parties

Standing Committee

Secretariat

Plants Committee

Nomenclature Committee

Animals Committee

UNEPTRAFFIC

IUCNUNEP-WCMC

How CITES works

Other NGOs

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Conference of the Parties

Management Authority

Secretariat

Permanent Committees

Guidance

TRAFFICIUCN

UNEP-WCMC

WCO, Interpol

Officers in charge of implementing

CITES

Recommendations

How CITES works

Scientific Authority

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The CITES BudgetThe CITES Budget• Contributions are paid by the Parties into a CITES

Trust Fund which is used to finance the budget

• Contributions are proportional and are calculated on the basis of the UN scale of contributions

See Resolution Conf. 12.1,

• CITES 2005 budget = 4.480.000 US dollars

• The budget is used to finance:– Meetings of the Conference of the Parties and the Permanent

Committees

– Basic services and activities, such as the trade database, review of significant trade, capacity building

– The basic functioning of the Secretariat, such as staff salariesand missions

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The CITES BudgetThe CITES Budget• External Funding:

– 1 million US dollars raised on average per year in addition to the Trust Fund

• External funding is used for projects:

– Technical Assistance to Parties

– Training Seminars, enforcement activities, identification manual, publications, national legislation activities

– Scientific Research

– Population studies

– Sponsored Delegates Project

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How CITES works

• The Conference of the Parties adopts Resolutions to guide the interpretation and implementation of the Convention, and Decisions to provide specific short-term time-bound instructions

79 Resolutions and 118 Decisionsare in effect

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How CITES works

• The Convention and its Appendices are legally binding, but national legislation is required to apply its provisions

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How CITES works

• National legislation to implement CITES must, at the very least:

– designate a Management Authority and aScientific Authority

– prohibit trade in specimens in violation of the Convention

– penalize such trade

– allow for confiscation of specimens illegally traded or possessed

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How CITES works

• The Management Authority is responsible for the administrative aspects of implementation (legislation, permits, annual and biennial reports on trade, communication with other CITES agencies)

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How CITES works

• The Scientific Authority is responsible for advising the Management Authority on non-detriment findings and other scientific aspects of implementation, and monitoring of national trade

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How CITES works

• Species subject to CITES regulation are divided amongst three Appendices

– The Conference of the Parties is the only body that can decide on the contents of Appendices I and II

– Any proposal to amend these two Appendices requires a two-thirds majority of voting Parties for it to be adopted

– Only Parties may propose amendments to the Appendices

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How CITES works

Appendix I

– includes species threatened with extinction

– International (commercial) trade is generally prohibited

– Almost 530 animal species and some 300 plant species

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Appendix II– includes species not necessarily

threatened with extinction, but for which trade must be controlled to avoid their becoming threatened

– includes species that resemble species already included in Appendix I or II

– International trade is permitted but regulated

– More than 4,400 animal species and more than 28,000 plant species

Dionaea muscipulaDionaea muscipula

TupinambisTupinambis

How CITES works

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How CITES works

Streptotelia semitorquata (Photo: P. Dollinger)Streptotelia semitorquata (Photo: P. Dollinger)

Appendix III

– includes species for which a country is asking Parties to help with its protection

– International trade is permitted but regulated (less restrictive than Appendix II)

– Some 255 animal species and 7 plant species

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• CITES regulates the export, re-export and import of live and dead animals and plants and their parts and derivatives (for listed species only) through a system of permits and certificates

• These permits or certificates may only be issued if certain conditions are met and which must be presented when leaving or entering a country

• For Appendix I and II-listed species, the most important condition is that international trade in thesespecies must not be detrimental to their survival in the wild

How CITES works

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How CITES works

• There are special provisions for:

– Personal and household effects

– Pre-Convention specimens

– Captive-bred or artificially propagated specimens

– Scientific exchange

– Travelling exhibitions

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How CITES works

• CITES documents are standardized for:

• Format

• Language & terminology

• Information

• Duration of validity

• Issuance procedures

• Clearance procedures

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How CITES works

• There are four types of CITES documents:

– Export permits

– Import permits

– Re-export certificates

– Other certificates

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How CITES worksExport permits

• Export permits can only be issued by the Management Authority, provided the Scientific Authority has advisedthat the proposed export will not be detrimental to thesurvival of the species

• The Management Authority must be satisfied that thespecimen was legally obtained

• The Management Authority must be satisfied that living specimens will be prepared and shipped in a manner thatwill minimize the risk of injury, damage to health or cruel treatment

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How CITES worksImport permits

• (Applies only to specimens of Appendix-I species)

• Import permits can only be issued by the Management Authority, when the Scientific Authority has advised thatthe proposed import will be for purposes that are notdetrimental to the survival of the species

• Note: by taking stricter domestic measures a number of Parties (e.g. the member States of the European Union) also require import documents for specimens of AppendixII species

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How CITES worksRe-export certificates

• Re-export certificates may only be issued by theManagement Authority, and only when that authorityis satisfied that the specimens have been importedin accordance with the provisions of the Convention

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How CITES works

Other certificates

• These are used for particular cases such as:

– Captive-bred or artificially propagated specimens

– Pre-Convention specimens

– Traveling exhibitions

– Introduction from the Sea

– Appendix III certificate of origin

– Labels for scientific exchange

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How CITES works

Similar rules and

regulations

Similar requirements

Similar authorities Similar

procedures

Similar documents

COMMON PROCEDURAL MECHANISMS

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TheThe benefitsbenefits of of CITESCITES

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The benefits of CITES

• Effective and consistent international regulation of trade in wildlife for conservation and sustainable useuse

• International cooperation on trade and conservation, legislation and enforcement, resource management, conservation science

• Participation as a global player in managingand conserving wildlife at the international level

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PartnershipsPartnershipsPartnerships

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Partnerships with Conventions• CITES collaborates directly with a number of Conventions, such

as:

– Convention on Biological Diversity

– Basel Convention

– Ramsar

– Convention on Migratory Species

– International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling

• This collaboration can involve Resolutions and Decisions of theConference of the Parties, joint work activities, etc.

• Collaboration can be across common areas of work, such as joint Customs training, enforcement, streamlining annualreporting, harmonization of legislation etc.

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Partnerships with Organisations

World Customs Organization Interpol

IUCN, IUCN-SSC

TRAFFIC Network

UNEP-WorldConservation

Monitoring Centre

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Internal partnerships

• Inter-agency cooperation and partnerships at thenational level are also important

– CITES Authorities

– Customs

– Police

– Judiciary

– Resource sectors

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CITES in CITES in thetheregionregion

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CITES in the region

[add list of Parties, non-Parties]

[add map]

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SummarySummary

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Summary

• CITES is an international agreement between governments that ensures that no species of wildfauna or flora is unsustainably exploited for international trade

• The Convention establishes the international legalframework and common procedural mechanisms for the prevention of international trade in endangered species, and for an effective regulation of international trade in others

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Summary

• CITES regulates international trade in specimens of species of wild fauna and flora listed in its Appendices on the basis of a system of permits and certificates which are issued only when certain conditions are met, and which must be presented when leaving AND entering a country

• For Appendix-I listed species, international trade isgenerally prohibited

• For Appendix-II and –III listed species, international trade is permitted but regulated

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Summary

• The Conference of the Parties adopts Resolutionsand Decisions to guide interpretation of the Convention and to direct its activities and those of the permanent committees and the Secretariat

• National legislation is required to implement the Convention

• CITES is a powerful tool for achieving consistent international regulation of trade in wildlife for conservation and sustainable use

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The Aims of CITES

• Regulated trade (effective and consistent)

• Science-based decisions

• Cooperation at multiple levels

• Conservation results

• Sustainable use of wildlife

• Towards a ’green’certification?