As of: 02.02.2010

How CITES works

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was adopted as early as 1973 against the backdrop of a dramatic decline in numerous species due to poaching and trade. Germany was one of the first signatories and incidentally also the first EU member state to sign. CITES entered into force on the international arena in 1975 and just one year later its provisions were implemented in Germany. Today, there are 176 parties to the Convention which corresponds to more than 85% of all countries around the world.

According to its preamble, the Convention serves:

• to protect "wild fauna and flora in their many beautiful and varied forms (which) are an irreplaceable part of the natural systems of the earth"
• to preserve "the value of wild fauna and flora from aesthetic, scientific (and) cultural (...) points of view"
• to protect "for this and the generations to come" as well as from "recreational and economic points of view".

Despite its title CITES is not a trade agreement, but an agreement to protect plants and animals as a natural basis of live but also as fellow living creatures of man on earth.

The main principle of the Convention is the precautionary principle according to which trade is only permissible if it has become manifest that it is "not harmful" to the conservation status the species. The Convention includes progressive import and export permit requirements which correspond to the status to which specific species are endangered. The species are listed in three annexes. The more a species is endangered, the stricter are the restrictions imposed by the Convention.

There is a general ban on trade for critically endangered species (species listed in Annexe I). Exceptions are only permissible under very exceptional circumstances and only for non-commercial purposes (e.g. for scientific purposes). Species listed in Annexe I include the panda, great apes and numerous parrot species.

The vast majority of species covered by the Convention is not yet threatened with extinction, but potentially endangered by trade (Annexe II) which led the fathers of the Convention to allow trade of animals and plants as a matter of principle, but under strict control of the countries of origin: An export permit for these animals and plants may only be granted by the exporting country if the taking of the specimen from the wild does not endanger the conservation status of the species. The species listed in Annexe II include all falcons, land turtles, crocodiles and most orchid species.

Annexe III, finally, lists species for which individual countries wish to control exports of indigenous species and need the support of other Parties, as in the case, for example, of several duck species from Ghana or of the king vulture from Honduras.

The role of the European Community in enforcing CITES

A regulation directly applicable in all EU member states governs the enforcement of species protection. Since the introduction of the European single market and the elimination of border controls, intra-Community trade in CITES species has been strictly monitored in the EU. Moreover, the EU has made use of its right to impose more stringent measures. Community law, for example, includes additional obligations for import permits for a multitude of species which makes it possible for member states to carry out a content related cross-check, a provision not included in the Convention. In cases of evident over-exploitation of specific species, the EU can even impose import bans. These issues are coordinated in Brussels on a regular basis. Therefore, the EU, one of the largest markets for exotic animals and plants in the world, has an important regulating role to play in the global trade in CITES species. The EU uses this role in a responsible manner and works in concert with the countries of origin to bring about a careful use of natural resources and improvements in the enforcement of species protection provisions.