Arusha - Green Customs Initiative

Introduction to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Ms Elisabeth Mrema representing UNEP-DEC gave an overview on CITES. She informed
that the overall objective of CITES is to ensure that wild fauna and flora in international trade
are not exploited unsustainably to cause their extinction. She said that CITES has been in
operation for 30 years now. She further pointed out that the Convention establishes an
international legal framework together with common procedural mechanisms for the
prevention of international commercial trade in endangered species applicable in 169 country
Parties to CITES to regulate and monitor international trade in wild resources.
Ms Mrema described that species subject to CITES regulations are provided under three
Appendices. Appendix I deals with species threatened with extinction and therefore
international (commercial) trade is generally prohibited and includes almost 530 animal
species and some 300 plant species. Appendix II covers species not necessarily threatened
with extinction, but for which international trade is permitted but regulated and contains more
than 4,400 animal species and more than 28,000 plant species. Appendix III deals with species
for which a country is asking Parties to help with its protection whereby international trade is
permitted but regulated (less restrictive than Appendix II) and includes some 255 animal
species and 7 plant species. She mentioned that CITES regulates the export, re-export and
import of live and dead animals and plants and their parts and derivatives (for listed species
only) through a system of permits and certificates. All countries that join the Convention must
adopt legislation for its implementation and designate Management Authority and Scientific
Authority. On one hand, the Management Authority has two basic roles: communicating with
the CITES Secretariat and other Parties and granting permits and certificates under the terms
of the Convention. On the other hand, the Scientific Authority provides advice to the
Management Authority does scientific identification of specimens and determines the national
status of CITES species.
Ms Mrema noted that although no role is specified for Customs in the Text of the Convention,
the Convention specifies that trade requires the presentation of valid permits or certificates,
which usually involves Customs, especially at points of entry. She pointed out that Customs
Officers, and other responsible agencies involved in border inspection, are usually the first
(and sometimes the only) level of inspection of shipments of CITES specimens. She was
therefore of the view that this places a great burden on Customs to verify that trade is in
accordance with CITES, detect fraud and illegal trade where it occurs, and inform the
Management Authority. Customs Officers face challenges such as specimens are not always
easy to identify, identifying invalid documents and forgeries, seizures can pose challenges,
and handling of specimens can be dangerous to safety. In this regard, she emphasized that
inter-agency cooperation and partnerships at the national level are essential among CITES
National Authorities, Customs, Police, Judiciary, Media and relevant Sector Ministries.
Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in
Wild Fauna and Flora
Mr. Stephen Kisamo, Director of the Lusaka Agreement Task Force based in Nairobi, Kenya,
gave an overview of the Lusaka Agreement. He informed that illegal trade in wildlife is on the
increase and more sophisticated, ranking as the third largest business after drugs and weapon
in international trafficking with estimated earnings at US$ 5-10 billion per annum. He further
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