WSP03664

• File Number: 8065
• Description: Section D General Statewide Issues - Endangered Species Act - Fisheries
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 8/1/1993
• Author: American Bar Associa
• Title: Natural Resources and Environment - Number 8-Volume 1 - Summer 1993 - Endangered Species Protection
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

The pu,poses of
CITES is to protect
endangered and
threatened species
from
overe:xploitation by
international trade.

34

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propagation .. in captivity for preservation
purposes. "
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was
meant to be much more comprehensive than
either the 1966 or 1969 statutes. The 1973 ESA
recognized that threatened and endangered
species of wildlife and plants "are of aesthetic,
ecological, educational, historical, recrea-
tional, and scientific value to the Nation and its
people." This statute was the first to refer to
flora. Part of its purpose was to provide a pro-
gram for the conservation of threatened and en.
dangered species. The Act prohibits the
importation, taking, export and sale of inter-
state or foreign commerce of any listed species.
In addition the 1973 ESA required the United
States to panicipate and cooperate in interna.
tional efforts to protect endangered species and,
as such, became the enabl ing legislation for
CITES.

CITES (197 J)

Simply stated, the purpose of CITES is to
protect endangered and threatened species from
overexploit3tion by international trade. To
achieve this objective, the treaty creates a sys-
tem of permits and certificates 10 restrict trade
and allows it to be monitored by regulating au-
thorities.
CITES is relatively short in length consid-
ering the wide scope of its provisions. It con-
tains twenty-five brief Articles that can be
grouped conveniently into five categories dis-
cussed below.
1. Introduction. CITES begins with a pre-
amble that states its purpose and the rationale
that lead the community of nations to adopt it.
Article I. defines terms that are central to the
document. Unfonunately it is far from com.
plete; many significant terms, critical to the op-
eration and proper understanding of CITES,
should have been included but were nOL They
can only be found by searching through the vo-
luminous proceedings of the biannual confer-
ences held to administer and implement the
treaty.
The means by which plant and animal spe-
cies and their parts and derivatives are brought
within the ambit of CITES are explained in Ar-
ticle 11. It creates three appendices upon which
species may be listed. Appendix I includes "all
species threatened with extinction which are or
may be affected by trade." It provides a strict
prohibition against trade for "commercial pur.
poses," which is defined broadly.
Appendix 11 includes species that, al-
though not now threatened with extinction, may
become so unless trade is subject to "strict reg-
ulation in order to avoid utilization incompat-

NR&EjSUMMER 199.1

ible with (a species') survival." It also includes
species that must be regulated (e.g., because of
problems with identification) so that trade of
those species that could become endangered is
controlled effectively.
The third appendix is composed of species
that meet twO requirements: First, a parry must
have identified them as subject to regulation
within its jurisdiction. Second, the cooperation
of other parties is needed to control trade and
prevent or restrict exploitation. Panies are not
allowed to trade any specimen of a species listed
in Appendix I, 11, or III except in accordance.
with the CITES provisions.
2. Regulation. The core of CITES is con-
tained in Articles lIl-VII, which establish the
regulatoty structure and permit system for trade.
They address regulation for each of the species
identified by the appendices, permits and cer-
tificates, exemptions, and other special provi-
sions contained in CITES.
These articles provide different layers of
protection according to where species are listed
in the appendices and have been the basis for
most of the criticism leveled at CITES.
3. Duties. Articles VlIl-X deal with the
responsibilities of the parties to the treaty, Ar.
ticle IX requires each party to designate man-
agement and scientific authorities to fulfill the
purpose of CITES within stated boundaries. Ar-
ticle X allows member parries to accept com-
parable documentation from nations which are
not signatories of CITES.
Parties are mandated by Article VlIltO take
appropriate measures to enforce the CITES pro.
visions. Although the arricle spells out several
measures which must be included in enforce-
ment efforts of each nation, it falls far short of
establishing a coherent, uniform system for in-
terpreting and enforcing CITES.
Several resolutions dealing with enforce-
ment have been passed since the adoption of
CITES. Among other things, they acknowledge
the political, economic and philosophical rifts
thar exist between developed and developing
countries. Although the resolutions urge better
implementation and enforcement, none press
for uniform application of treaty provisions.
As is often the case, what is missing from
CITES may be more significant than what is em-
bodied in it. The resolutions are carefully crafred
to avoid any implication of a usurpation of sov-
ereign rights. No attempt is made to urge nations
of the world to set aside concerns of sovereignty
in the interest of preserving the environment or
ro further the purpose of the treaty. This is true
even though 118 nations are now parries to
CITES.
The net result is that each party has its own
implementation and enforcement policies and