Cites

• Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
• CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The World Conservation Union).
• The text of the Convention was finally agreed at a meeting of representatives of 80 countries in Washington, D.C., the United States of America, on 3 March 1973, and on 1 July 1975 CITES entered in force.
• CITES is an international agreement to which States and regional economic integration organizations adhere voluntarily.
• States that have agreed to be bound by the Convention (‘joined’ CITES) are known as Parties. Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties – in other words, they have to implement the Convention – 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.
• The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices, according to the degree of protection they need.
• Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade-in specimens of these species are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
• Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.
• Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade.

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