Commercial Trade of Wildlife - The Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species (cites)

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international treaty established to regulate commerce in wildlife. CITES, first ratified in 1975, was developed to block both the import and export of endangered species as well as to regulate trade in vulnerable species. CITES maintains three levels of control. Appendix I, the most stringent, includes species that are in immediate danger of extinction. CITES generally prohibits international trade of these species. Appendix II lists species that are likely to become in danger of extinction without strict protection from international trade. Permits may be obtained for the trade of Appendix II species only if trade will not harm the survival prospects of the species in the wild. Appendix III includes species identified by individual countries as being subject to conservation regulations within its borders.

CITES is generally regarded as the most important legislation regulating trade in endangered or vulnerable species. The treaty nations hold a meeting, called a Conference of Parties (or COP), approximately every two to three years. There were 164 member nations party to CITES in 2004.

Among the most hotly contested topics at the 2000 CITES meeting (COP 11) was the listing status of the African elephant. The African elephant population, which stabilized during the 1990s after a drastic 20-year decline, served as an example of the beneficial nature of CITES protection. Indeed, some wildlife experts surmised that the market for ivory products in North America and Western Europe evaporated after CITES imposed a ban on ivory trafficking in 1989, and that the Japanese market for these products dropped by 50 percent. The error of that assumption was exposed, however, following the 1997 CITES conference in Harare, Zimbabwe. When delegates at that conference authorized the export of 60 tons of stockpiled ivory from three African countries—Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia—the ivory sold for over $5 million on the international market. This occurred in 1999. Soon after, ivory poaching increased more than fourfold in Kenya. Tanzania and Zimbabwe reported increases in illegal elephant slaughter as well.

In 2000 South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana once again petitioned CITES for authorization to sell stockpiled ivory. In addition, these nations declared that they were now overrun by elephants because of the ivory ban and petitioned for the approval of a culling system in which elephants from overpopulated areas would be moved to less populated regions. The South African contingency requested an allowance for some trade, both in ivory and in elephant leather. In the ongoing debate, India and Kenya responded by petitioning for a total ban on elephant ivory trade. India and Kenya also proposed that the elephant be moved to CITES Appendix I. In the end, the opposing factions reached a compromise in which both proposals were withdrawn—elephants remained listed under Appendix II, and the ban on ivory sales remained in effect.

At CITES' COP 12 meeting (held in Santiago, Chile in November 2002), member nations adopted trade controls for a number of new species which were added to CITES Appendix II. These included:

• mahogany, which suffers from overexploitation for timber
• whale sharks and basking sharks, which are hunted for the meat, fins, and liver oil
• 26 species of Asian turtles, which are exploited for traditional Asian medicine, the pet trade, and for food
• all 32 seahorse species, which are declining due to overexploitation for the aquarium market and for traditional medicines, fishing practices, and pollution

The listing of the two shark species was considered a landmark decision because CITES had not previously addressed fisheries. In addition, species of parrots, chameleons, orchids, and frogs were transferred from Appendix II to Appendix I due to their continued decline. In the continuing battle over ivory sales, CITES also conditionally approved a narrow range of future ivory sales. These can only take place after studies on elephant poaching and population sizes are complete.

CITES has a number of shortcomings. First, many countries lack the funds and expertise to determine the endangerment status of their species. As a result, numerous species that require protection have yet to be listed with the convention. Some experts also argue that CITES listing serves to advertise a species' rarity, thereby boosting its trade. However, the primary criticism of CITES is that its regulations are notoriously difficult to enforce. Wildlife protection organizations such as TRAFFIC estimate that 30 percent of the total value of the global wildlife trade occurs in violation of either CITES or national laws. Other problems include the absence of laws to implement CITES, weak penalties for violators, and widespread corruption among public officials. Many nations are not even party to the CITES convention, making them potential wildlife bazaars where animals and plants illegally exported from CITES nations can be "laundered." Numerous biologically rich nations have not signed the CITES treaty. Finally, CITES addresses only trade across international borders. It does not address the problem of trade within countries, which is detrimental to many endangered and vulnerable species.