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

002H8

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priorities. In addition some multilateral trading
blocs-including the European Community-
have proposed regulations on trade in wildlife
that incorporate CITES, and thus create addi-
tional layers of regulation and interpretation.
For example, draft EC regulations published re-
cently for comment are, in some ways, even
more restrictive than the CITES provisions.
Moreover I many countries have little or no en-
forcement system in place, and of those systems
that are in place, none are identical. Accord.
ingly, great care must be taken to determine the
permit requirements of both the importing and
exporting countries before any trade can be
conducted becween nations.
4. Administration. Much of the treaty
(Articles XI-XVIII) is devoted to matters of an
administrative nature. A secretariat is created to
manage the day. to-day affairs of the treaty and
coordinate the activities of the parities. A "Con-
ference of the Parties," the governing body reo
sponsible for the implementation and
enforcement of CITES, is required to meet at
least once every twO years. (The next meeting
is schcduled to take place in the United States
in fall 1994). Procedures are provided for
amending CITES and its appendices. Parties with
disputes are required to engage in negotiations;
if a satisfactory resolution cannot be achieved
the panies may, by agreement, submit the dis-
pute to binding arbitration.
Article XIV addresses the effect of CITES
on domestic legislation and international agree-
ments. In general, the treaty does not affect the
right of member nations to adopt stricter do-
mestic measures or panicipate in regional or
multilateral trade agreements (e.g., the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFfA)). Cur-
rent drafts of NAFfA, however, incorporate
CITES provisions rather than seek more restric-
tive regulation.
5. Treaty Formalities. The final seven ar.
ticles of CITES (Articles XIX-XXV) deal with
treaty formalities. Among other things, a pro-
cedure is established for parties to take "res-
ervations" to specific listings. (A reservation
allows a parry to continue trading in that species
with other reserving parties). Nations wishing
to join or leave CITES have to comply with the
procedures outlined in these articles. Switzer.
land is designated as depositoty government and
charged with responsibility for original docu-
ments.

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Does It Work?

CITES is a working, dynamic document
similar to a constitution. Almost 8,000 pages of
proceedings from the Conferences ofthe Parties
is ample evidence that nOt all questions about

the treaty can be answered by the document
itself. Issues of major imponance to those con-
cerned with the protection of threatened and
endangered species, and those trading in wild-
life or wildlife products, are being discussed on
an ongoing basis. Significant problems of im-
plementation and enforcement are continually
being addressed and new resolutions (referred
to as "soft-laws") on all aspects of the treaty
and its operation are being added to the body
of international wildlife trade law.
It is difficult to point to specific successes
of CITES. The treaty's high expectations and
narrow purpose make it difficult to identify spe.
cies whose continued existence is due pei mar-
ily-if not solely-to CITES. Nonetheless, two
general observations can be made. First, CITES
has improved monitoring of the massive trade
(over 55 billion) in wildlife and wildlife pro.
duction. Although the data collected is suspect,
a much benee picture of the extem and flow of
this trade is now available. Second, from the
original ten ratifying countries that brought
CITES into force in 1975, there are now 118
nations agreeing (0 its terms. These countries
have seen a need for the regulation imposed by
CITES and concluded that even with its flaws it
is a step in the right direction.

Despite CITES' promise to serve as a
1001 for protection of the earth's bio.
diversiry, it has its shortcomings. Many
deal with the minutiae of treaty ad-
ministration, implementation, and enforce-
ment. Several of these problems cut to the core
of the treary and its basic purpose.
The primary goal of CITES is to preserve threat.
ened and vulnerable species in the wild by reg-
ulating imernationaltrade. A parallel objective,
implicit in the treaty's purpose, is to allow some,
presumably sustainable, level of exploitation of
those species. The apparent conflict in these
objectives creates the central tension in the
treaty and impacls virtually every consideration
of its provisions. Often CITES appears to forget
or ignore its own narrow purpose. For example,
despite evidence of little or no trade, the entire
hummingbird family was listed on Appendix II;
all orchids, some 30,000 species, are included
in CITES even though only a small fraction of
that number are currently in trade. Professor
Kevin Hill perhaps identified the nature of the
paradox best when he noted that "[t]he theo-
retical foundation of CITES is classically polito
ical. The convention attempts to balance the
vague intuitive notion that the preservation of
species is good, against commercial demands
for exploitation. The stress between these com-
Continued on page 74

NR&E/SUMMER 1993

From the original
ten ratifying
countries that
brought CITES into
force in 1975. there
are now 118
nations agreeing to
its terms.

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