How does CITES regulate the wildlife?trade?

The international wildlife trade , both legal and illegal, has grown dramatically over the past few decades and the increase in human populations has created an increase in demand for wildlife products. Illegal trade also aims to satisfy the demand for exotic pets, fashion items and ornamental plants. CITES is increasingly being used to regulate international trade in commercially harvested marine and timber species, with the Convention now regulating trade in over 900 timber species .

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was created in 1973 and came into effect in 1975 to protect certain species of wild fauna and flora against overexploitation through International trade. Determining and Improving sustainable exploitation practices for wild species has been recognized internationally as an important goal for the future. One hundred and eighty four countries are currently members of CITES, This is more than the 164 signatories of the World Trade Organization agreements that are the basis of the multilateral trading system. All member countries affirmed their commitment to preventing international trade from harming the ability of species listed in the CITES Appendices to survive in the wild.

CITES — Appendices:

Appendix — I

Appendix I comprises species threatened with extinction, and which are or may be affected by international trade. Trade in wild specimens of these species for commercial purposes is banned except under exceptional circumstances, but exporting countries are still required to assess whether trade has a detrimental impact on the species’ survival in the wild. The intent behind the importation must not be damaging to the species’ survival, therefore importing nations must likewise make this determination.

Appendix — II

Appendix II comprises species that may become threatened with extinction unless international trade is regulated in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival. In this case, the possible detrimental impact of international trade on wild populations has to be assessed by the exporting country only.

Appendix — III

Every nation that abides by the CITES trade rules and regulations will request assistance from other CITES signatory nations in regulating trade of a taxon present in this appendix III. For this group, trade is permitted but export licenses or certificates of origin are necessary.

How a taxon / species is added to the CITES appendices??:

Appendices I and II modification procedures are outlined in CITES Article XV. Any member nation may at any time submit a proposal to the CITES Secretariat in Geneva asking for a species to be included in any of the appendices. There is no necessity that a species be native to the country proposing it in order for it to be a member of the range. In actuality, proposals come with a supporting statement that should include information about the proposed taxon’s biology and trade.

The adoption of the amendment is then decided by a vote of the member nations at the following CoP. Proposals must be submitted to the Secretariat at least 150 days prior to the following CoP to provide it time to notify all member nations of the proposal and to allow both the Secretariat and the member countries to gather pertinent data. Although CITES mandates that CoPs occur at least every two years, they have happened every three years since 2004.

The Role of the Secretariat

After the Secretariat receives a proposal, it has to gather information regarding the state of the species. In accordance with Article XV(1)(a), the Secretariat must make a proposal about whether the species should be listed in Appendices I or II and must inform the member nations of this recommendation at least 30 days prior to the CoP. A proposal at a CoP is approved if it receives the support of at least two-thirds of the members present and voting, with each member nation having one vote.

The Secretary is encouraged to give a genuine appraisal of the facts pertaining to a proposed listing as a result of the separation between the suggestion made at the scientific assessment stage and the voting stage. Importantly, the suggestion must be supported by the best available data and adhere to the listing standards that have been agreed upon by all member countries and that apply to all species.

This limits the ability of individual member countries to reach “agreements,” especially since the Secretariat’s suggestion and the supporting data are made available to all member nations. Also, choices are made on a sizable number of listing bids at every CoP. The majority of member nations do not have any particular species’ ranges within their borders, hence they are less likely to have an economic stake in a species. Less than 10% of listing choices are actually contentious enough to require secret ballot voting, and the majority of listing decisions are made by unanimous vote.

How does CITES help in wildlife conservation by monitoring worldwide trade?

The effectiveness of CITES depends on its implementation and enforcement. As part of the “National Legislation Project” (NLP), CITES assigns countries a classification based on how well their domestic laws follow CITES requirements. The CITES Standing Committee categorizes nations based on data and suggestions submitted by the CITES Secretariat.

According to Conf. 8.4 (Rev. CoP15), “National laws for implementation of the Convention,” the classification is based on four conditions. That are,

1. Whether the country has designated at least one management authority and one scientific authority.
2. The nation forbids the trade in specimens that are against CITES.
3. The nation should penalize such trade.
4. The nation seizes specimens that have been obtained or transferred unlawfully.

Then, nations are divided into three categories:

Category 1:

Those with legislation that satisfies all four conditions for the effective implementation of CITES

Category 2:

Those with legislation are generally thought to satisfy one to three of the four requirements for the effective implementation of CITES.

Category 3:

Those that have legislation that is believed generally not to meet any of the four requirements for effective implementation of CITES.

As incorporation of CITES into national law is a requirement for enforcing CITES, we use these categories as a gauge of the effectiveness of national enforcement and compliance programmes. To determine the impact of CITES in wildlife?, we will use variance between species, time, member countries, as well as the effectiveness of their enforcement.

Written by: Rahul Rengarajan

Originally published at https://thinkwildlifefoundation.com on April 24, 2023.