TRAFFIC and CITES

A TRAFFIC priority is to promote international co-operation to address wildlife trade issues, with particular emphasis on CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and CBD, the Convention on Biological Diversity.

TRAFFIC provides information and assistance to help the decision-making processes at CITES, supporting efforts to ensure that international wildlife trade is at sustainable levels and does not pose a threat to the conservation of species. In 1999, the two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding (PDF, 24 KB), with the purpose to undertake joint activities for capacity building.

Conference of the Parties (CoP)

Roughly every three years, a meeting takes place of those governments "Parties" who have joined CITES. These meetings are called Conference of the Parties (CoP). At a CoP, Parties decide what modifications are needed to the Convention and its Appendices.

Proposals

Proposals and Agenda documents are put forward by Parties who have trade issues to discuss, and these are either adopted, rejected or modified following discussion amongst the government delegates present.

Analyses and Recommendations

Together with our partner, IUCN - The International Union for Conservation of Nature, TRAFFIC publishes in-depth analyses of all the formal proposals put forward by Parties to be discussed at CoP.
TRAFFIC publishes its recommendations on each decision to be taken, based on the results of these analyses. The analyses and recommendations for each of the recent CoPs can be found by clicking on the relevant links below.

Useful information on CITES

The Evolution of CITES (8th Edition by Willem Wijnstekers)
An indispensable reference for understanding the workings and history of the Convention.

CITES: A conservation tool (9th edition)
Guides readers through the Convention's articles and resolutions.

CITES Scientific Authorities checklist to assist in making non-detriment findings for Appendix II exports Background to the development of the non-detriment finding checklist and how it is designed to work