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

Subject: Environment

Topic: International Convention

Concept:

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement to which States and regional economic integration organizations adhere voluntarily.
It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.
Aim: Ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP (The United Nations Environment Programme) and is located at Geneva, Switzerland.
It plays a coordinating, advisory and servicing role in the working of the Convention (CITES).
The Conference of the Parties to CITES, is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention and comprises all its Parties.
Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties, it does not take the place of national laws.
Rather, it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

Functions

The CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls.
All import, export, re-export and introduction from the sea of species covered by the Convention has to be authorized through a licensing system.
Each Party to the Convention must designate one or more Management Authorities in charge of administering that licensing system and one or more Scientific Authorities to advise them on the effects of trade on the status of the species.
Appendices I, II and III to the Convention are lists of species afforded different levels or types of protection from over-exploitation.

Appendix I

It lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants.
Examples include gorillas, sea turtles, most lady slipper orchids, and giant pandas. Currently 931 species are listed.
They are threatened with extinction and CITES prohibits international trade in specimens of these species except when the purpose of the import is not commercial, for instance for scientific research.
In these exceptional cases, trade may take place provided it is authorized by the granting of both an import permit and an export permit (or re-export certificate).

Appendix II

It lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled.
It also includes so-called “look-alike species”, i.e. species whose specimens in trade look like those of species listed for conservation reasons.
International trade in specimens of Appendix-II species may be authorized by the granting of an export permit or re-export certificate.
No import permit is necessary for these species under CITES (although a permit is needed in some countries that have taken stricter measures than CITES requires).
Permits or certificates should only be granted if the relevant authorities are satisfied that certain conditions are met, above all that trade will not be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild.

Appendix III

It is a list of species included at the request of a Party that already regulates trade in the species and that needs the cooperation of other countries to prevent unsustainable or illegal exploitation.
International trade in specimens of species listed in this Appendix is allowed only on presentation of the appropriate permits or certificates.
Species may be added to or removed from Appendix I and II, or moved between them, only by the Conference of the Parties.
However, species may be added to or removed from Appendix III at any time and by any Party unilaterally.