The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, commonly referred to as CITES, is an international agreement between governments whose primary aim is to ensure international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the relevant species’ survival.
CITES is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals. It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 during a meeting among members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force on July 1, 1975 (wiki).
- CITES is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals
- SL one of 34 ‘biodiversity hotspots’ in the world
- Meets two to three years to review implementation of the convention
- With over 3,000 foreign delegates and media personnel from 183 countries expected to participate is the largest UN Conference to have been hosted in Sri Lanka
The signatories to CITES conventions are collectively referred to as the Conference of Parties: Meets two to three years to review the implementation of the convention. The meetings of the Conference of Parties last about two weeks and are usually hosted by one of the parties.
The United Nations General Assembly, by paragraph of Section I of its resolution 31/140 of December 17, 1976, decided that sessions of United Nations’ bodies maybe held away from their established headquarters, when the government issuing the invitation for a session to be held within its territory has agreed to defray, after consultations with the United Nations Secretary-General as to their nature and possible extent, the actual additional costs directly or indirectly incurred.
Under available legal provisions stipulated in the Customs Act of Sri Lanka and with available limited resources, Sri Lanka Customs is working hard to detect illicit wildlife trafficking at the country’s exit points (ports and airports)
Accordingly, the Conference of Parties to CITES at its 17th meeting held from September 24 to October 3, 2016 at Johannesburg in South Africa accepted the invitation of the Sri Lankan Government to hold the 18th meeting (CoP18) as well as the 71st and 72nd meetings of the CITES Standing Committee (SC71 and SC72);
The 18th meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP) to CITES is scheduled to be held from May 23 to June 3 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo. With over 3,000 foreign delegates and media personnel from 183 different countries expected to participate is the largest UN conference to have ever been hosted in Sri Lanka.
Why Sri Lanka?
- As per Conservation International (CI), Sri Lanka is one of 34 ‘biodiversity hotspots’ in the world, with a large proportion of endemic species and a high dependence on its biodiversity for tourism and other social and economic activities
- Despite its small size, Sri Lanka boasts of one of the highest rates of biological endemism in the world.
- Of the 106 species of mammals found in the country, the wildlife enthusiast generally focuses on Sri Lankan elephants, sloth bears, leopards, and sambars.
- The seas around Sri Lanka are home to large families of cetaceans including mighty blue-whales, sperm-whales and dolphins.
- Altogether, 34 species of cetaceans rule the waters surrounding the country, making it one of the best locations for whale and dolphin watching.
- Despite the mighty elephants and rare amphibians found, birds are the glory of Sri Lanka’s wildlife. Boasting nearly 510 bird species of which 33 are endemic.
- Although less celebrated, Sri Lanka has one of the richest diversities of amphibians in the world, containing over 119 species of amphibians of over 106 of which are endemic. The country has long claimed to have the highest amphibian species density in the world.
CITES and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka acceded to the CITES Convention on May 4, 1979. Since then, as a party to the CITES for nearly four decades, Sri Lanka is yet to introduce national laws implementing CITES. Currently, Sri Lanka is placed in Category 3, which is for parties that do not meet the requirements for the implementation of CITES.
Wildlife advocates of Sri Lanka urge and advocate the local authorities to introduce required legislation followed by regulations to implement CITES at a national level. Having local regulation in place to implement CITES in Sri Lanka will help not only to protect its own wildlife smuggled out of the country, but also join hands with the international community to apprehend wildlife trafficking taking place at localports, airports and in Sri Lankan waters.
The 18th meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will be held from May 23 to June 3 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo.
It is vital to note that national laws will always supersede any CITES regulation. This means existing laws would not be weakened while CITES would help close loopholes that enable Sri Lanka to be used as a wildlife trade route. CITES would also better regulate trade for species from other countries (example: blood ivory from Africa), trade of orchids, timber and marine products (like shark fins); all of which have management controls in place at present but are still being traded in large volumes.
CITES is one of the conventions that comes under the European Union’s Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) that provides additional trade incentive to developing countries including Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka lost GSP+ in 2010 and regained it in 2017 promising to the EU that Sri Lanka would adhere and implement the conventions under GSP+ consideration.
Sri Lanka’s Fauna and Flora Protection (Amendment) Act No. 22 of 2009 and Customs (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2003 or other legal instrument do not provide adequate legal provisions for apprehending illicit wildlife trafficking that is taking place in the country, in transiting and beyond the Sri Lankan waters. In the recent past, most of the illicit wildlife trafficking cargo transited via Sri Lanka were detected and detained by other East Asian countries. At the same time, in recent years, wildlife specimens are being taken in and out of Sri Lanka at a very high rate.
Under available legal provisions stipulated in the Customs Act of Sri Lanka and with available limited resources, Sri Lanka Customs is working hard to detect illicit wildlife trafficking at the country’s exit points (ports and airports). It is worth noting that the recent two biggest wildlife-related detection by Sri Lanka Customs received international attention. In 2012, Sri Lanka Customs forfeited the African blood ivory container which was in transit to Dubai and in 2014 held 28 containers of rose wood from Tanzania which was in transit to East Asia.
CITES is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals. It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975.
For the first time in the South Asian region, Sri Lanka destroyed a blood ivory container on January 26, 2016. John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES came as a special guest of the Sri Lankan Government on this occasion. He was the first CITES Secretary-General to visit the South Asian region. Scanlon applauded the Sri Lankan authorities for forfeiting such a massive blood ivory haul and taking steps to destroy it publicly. This event brought a high degree of international positive media attention to Sri Lanka, rivalling any event since country’s independence in 1948.
During Scanlon’s visit, he had a discussion with Sri Lankan wildlife authorities on the local regulation for implementing CITES in the country. He emphasised the importance of having CITES local regulation in place and working towards achieving Category 1 status.
Hosting CITES CoP 18 will be a major and significant international gathering in Sri Lanka, with 183 parties consisting of 182 countries attending. India hosted CoP 3 in 1981. After 38 years, Sri Lanka will host CITES in the South Asian region once again.
Reference: 2018 Forum on Disarmament and Development, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Sri Lanka
