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 CITES

Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna

Overview:

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an agreement between 172 countries to protect plants and animals that are endangered or threatened with extinction as a result of international trade.  For example, CITES protects elephants and jaguars by banning the international trade in ivory and fur pelts. The Convention also aims to protect a handful of high-value tropical timber species, such as bigleaf mahogany and Spanish cedar from being logged and traded at an unsustainable rate. 

The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices depending on the level of protection that is needed to prevent its slide to extinction:

• Appendix I
  • For species threatened with extinction

• Trade is only permitted in exceptional circumstances such as for scientific research — never for commercial purposes
• Appendix II
  • For species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to maintain a healthy population
  • Trade may be authorized with an export permit or re-export certificate that ensures that the species was acquired both legally and sustainably
• Appendix III
  • For species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade
  • Any country which has included a species in Appendix III must have an export permit to trade in the species.

Listing Dates:

Committees:

Plants:  The plants committee gathered for the first time in the United Kingdom from November 2-5, 1988 and had its most recent 16th meeting in Lima, Peru July 3-8, 2006.

Mahogany Working Group: The mahogany working group was established at the 11th Conference of the Parties (CoP11) in 2000 and have since had three meetings in 2001, 2003, and 2006.