CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade. Read here to know more about the convention and its significance.
The 19th Conference of Parties (COP19) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Panama City has concluded draft decisions on reducing the risks of future zoonotic diseases.
The directives have been drawn against the backdrop of disease emergence associated with international wildlife trade. COVID-19, which became a pandemic, is a zoonotic disease that was transferred from animals to humans.
What is CITES?
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments.
It aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The World Conservation Union).
- It came into force in 1975.
- The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP and is located in Geneva, Switzerland.
- India hosted COP-3 in 1981.
Parties of the Convention
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 domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.
Significance of CITES
At the time when the ideas for CITES were first formed, in the 1960s, international discussion of the regulation of wildlife trade for conservation purposes was something relatively new.
Annually, international wildlife trade is estimated to be worth billions of dollars and to include hundreds of millions of plant and animal specimens.
- The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and plants to a vast array of wildlife products derived from them, including food products, exotic leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios, and medicines.
- Levels of exploitation of some animal and plant species are high and the trade in them, together with other factors, such as habitat loss, is capable of heavily depleting their populations and even bringing some species close to extinction.
- Many wildlife species in trade are not endangered, but the existence of an agreement to ensure the sustainability of the trade is important to safeguard these resources for the future.
Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate it requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation.
CITES was conceived in the spirit of such cooperation. Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 37,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats, or dried herbs.
Functioning of CITES
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.
The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices, according to the degree of protection they need:
Appendices I and II
Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.
Appendix III
This Appendix contains species protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade. Changes to Appendix III follow a distinct procedure from changes to Appendices I and II, as each Party is entitled to make unilateral amendments to it.
CITES COP19 2022
Draft decisions on lowering the likelihood of zoonotic illnesses in the future have been completed at the 19th Conference of Parties (COP19) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
- The directives were created in response to the rise of diseases linked to transnational wildlife trading. COVID-19 is a zoonotic illness that spread from animals to people and turned into a pandemic.
- CITES advised parties to consult with organizations like the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime, and the Convention on Biological Diversity and other pertinent biodiversity-related agreements.
- The aim was to identify possible emerging threats and reduce the risks of spreading pathogens, their spillover, and transmission of zoonotic diseases via international wildlife trade supply chains.
- The decision was taken to consider a multi-sectoral approach guided by the one health expert panel for managing and mitigating pathogen spillover.
India and CITES COP19
In a step forward towards conservation, two Indian turtle species – the red-crowned roofed turtles (Batagur kachuga) and Leith’s soft-shell turtle (Nilssonia leithii) – have made it to Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
- Red-crowned roofed turtle is native to India, Nepal, and Bangladesh and known to be widely found in the Ganga and Brahmaputra river basins, according to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). At present in India, the National Chambal River Gharial Sanctuary is the only geographic area where the species is found in substantial numbers.
- Leith’s soft-shell turtle inhabits rivers and reservoirs mainly in southern peninsular India, in states like Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. Its presence is substantial in the Cauvery, Tungabhadra, Ghataprabha, Bhavani, Godavari, and Moyar drainages.
CITES relaxed restrictions on the export of furniture and handicrafts made of North Indian rosewood or shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) from India on November 21, 2022.
India has decided not to vote against a proposal to re-open the international trade in ivory at the ongoing conference of the CITES.
- The ivory trade was globally banned in 1989 when all African elephant populations were put in CITES Appendix I.
- The ivory trade was globally banned in 1989 when all African elephant populations were put in CITES Appendix I.
- India has been a vocal opponent of the international ivory trade for over three decades.
- It is the first time India has not voted against a request to reopen the ivory trade since joining the CITES in 1976.
- The endangered Asian elephant was included in CITES Appendix I in 1975, which banned the export of ivory from the Asian range countries.
- In 1986, India amended the Wild Life (Protection) Act, of 1972 to ban even domestic sales of ivory. After the ivory trade was globally banned, India again amended the law to ban the import of African ivory in 1991.
-Article written by Swathi Satish
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