Updated Listings of Fauna and Flora Species - caftadr-environment ...

UPDATED LISTINGS OF FLORA AND FAUNA SPECIESINCLUDED IN THE CITES APPENDICES DISTRIBUTED IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND DOMINICAN REPUBLICWhat is CITES?CITES is an international agreement between Governments. It aims to ensure that international tradein specimens of wild animals and plants does not constitute a threat to their survival. It is estimatedthat annual international wildlife trade amounts to billions of dollars and affects hundreds of millions ofspecimens of wild animals and plants.Considering that trade in wild plants goes beyond borders between countries, regulations require internationalcooperation to protect certain species from overexploitation. The CITES was conceived within theframework of that spirit of cooperation. Today, it offers varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000species of animals and plants, marketed either as living or dead specimens, or as parts or derivatives.How does CITES work? (Modified from: www.cites.org)The CITES subjects the international trade in specimens of some species to certain controls. Every import,export, re-export or introduction of a large number of marine species covered by the Convention must beauthorized following a system of permit or certificate granting.Each party to the Convention must designate one or more administrative authorities responsible for managingthe system for the granting of permits or certificates, and one or more Scientific Authorities to adviseon the impact of trade of the wild species (www.cites.org).Species included in the CITES appendices may be imported or exported (or re-exported)only if the appropriatedocument that accompanies the specimen is obtained and presented at customs in a port of entryor exit. CITES guidelines are established in the Convention Text (www.cites.org/texto). Its- compliance isalso bound by the provisions of a general legal framework that should be incorporated into specific nationallaws to ensure their observance, and which must not be of lesser requirement than the Convention. However,it may vary from one country to another especially when national laws have adopted more stringentmeasures, therefore it is advisable to consult the legislation adopted by each signatory party.The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making organ of the Convention andis composed of all the member countries. The ninth Conference adopted resolution Conf. 9.24 (Rev.(CdP13), which sets forth biological and trade criteria to determine whether a species should be includedin Appendix I or II. At each COP meeting, the Parties submit proposals based on those criteria to amendthese two appendices.The first Conference of the Parties was held in Bern, Switzerland in November 1976, and the first list ofAppendix I and II species was adopted during this event. Many of these species were included more withthe intention of conservation than because they were threatened by international trade. Therefore, in thefollowing Conferences of the Parties (14 have been held to date), many of these species were transferredfrom Appendix I to Appendix II and later removed from the lists.Some 5,000 species of animals and 28,000 species of plants are covered by the CITES against over-exploitationthrough international trade. The species are grouped in appendices according to the degree ofthreat imposed by international trade. Sometimes entire groups (families or genera) are included, such asprimates, whales, sea turtles, felines, cacti, and orchids. Other cases include only one subspecies, or a populationgeographically isolated of a species (population, subspecies, or variety of a country).The species covered by CITES are included in three appendices (www.cites.org/Appendices), dependingon the degree of protection they need: Appendix I, Appendix II, and Appendix III.Appendix I: Appendix I includes all species threatened by extinction. Trade in specimens of these species isprohibited and authorized only under exceptional circumstances.Appendix II: In Appendix II are included species not necessarily endarngered by extinction but its trademust be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival. Species similar in appearanceto those already in this list are also included.Appendix III: This Appendix includes species protected in at least one country that has requested assistancefrom other parties in the CITES to control their trade.Changes in Appendix III are made differently than those made to Appendices I and II, since each partymay make unilateral amendments to it, so that the inclusion or exclusion of species can be at any time,while amendments to Appendices I and II should be adopted by the Conference of the Parties.1011