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

What is CITES?

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments signed in 1973.

• Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
• The Government of India signed the Convention in July 1976, which was ratified in October 1976.

How CITES work?

The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices, according to the degree of protection they need. 

Appendices I and II

• Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
• Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.

The Conference of the Parties (CoP), which is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention and comprises all its member States, has agreed in Resolution on a set of biological and trade criteria to help determine whether a species should be included in Appendices I or II. 

At each regular meeting of the CoP, Parties submit proposals based on those criteria to amend these two Appendices. Those amendment proposals are discussed and then submitted to a vote. The Convention also allows for amendments by a postal procedure between meetings of the CoP, but this procedure is rarely used.

Appendix III

This Appendix contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade. 

Changes to Appendix III follow a distinct procedure from changes to Appendices I and II, as each Party’s is entitled to make unilateral amendments to it.

CITES and India:-

India has supported inclusion of box turtles and soft shell turtles in the appendices of CITES and has requested the CITES to ascertain the correct conservation status of a species before taking any decision on listing of species including sharks in the Appendices of CITES as such decisions cannot be made on the basis of inadequate or unreliable information, more so when they are likely to impact the livelihoods of millions of poor communities. 

India has also mentioned that there is strong need for undertaking more region specific studies, primarily relating to the status of the concerned species in the Indian Ocean regions, before taking decisions to include sharks in the Appendices of CITES.