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The role of quotas in CITES

CITES Secretariat

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Session overview

• In this session we will:

– Indicate the role of Scientific Authorities in establishing and monitoring quotas

– Examine voluntary national quotas and CITES

– Discuss problems with implementation of quotas

– Examine quotas set by the Conference of the Parties

– Examine quotas established through the Review of Significant Trade

– Look at the future of quotas in CITES

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What are quotas?

• Quotas in the context of CITES are the maximum amount of specimens that can be exported per year

• Quotas can be determined by a Party or by the Conference of the Parties to CITES

• Quotas have been used in CITES to limit the amount of specimens of CITES-listed species entering international trade, and have been established through a range of different procedures

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Quotas and Scientific Authorities

• CITES export quotas should be, and in many instances are, an outcome of:

– effective national conservation management programmes designed to prevent unsustainable harvesting of wild populations; and

– a determination by CITES Scientific Authorities in compliance with Article III, paragraph 2 a), [for Appendix-I species] or Article IV, paragraph 2 a), [for Appendix-II species] of the Convention, that the number of specimens that may be exported as part of a quota will not be detrimental to the survival of that species

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Quotas and Scientific Authorities

• The Scientific Authority must also monitor the actual levels of export

• This is to ensure that the species is maintained throughout its range at a level consistent with its role in the ecosystem, and above the level at which the species might become eligible for Appendix I

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Voluntary national export quotas

• Many Parties routinely establish annual export quotas on a voluntary basis for one or more Appendix-II and/or –III species as a means of limiting exports in those species

• The main purposes of such export quotas are to:

– establish a limit on yearly exports at levels that are sustainable, or within the annual production capacity of ranching or captive breeding operations

– announce the intended level of exports to both producers at national level and importers for the purpose of facilitating trade

– establish a basis for allocating amounts to be exported per year to individual exporters

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Controlling national quotas

• When a country has established an annual export quota it should:

– indicate the quota amount of that species on each export permit along with a running total of specimens that have already been exported as part of that quota

– keep an account of the use of an annual export quota to ensure that all specimens exported are reflected in the running total that must be given on each export permit and to avoid that annual quotas are exceeded

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Controlling national quotas

• Export permits for specimens subject to a quota should indicate the total number of specimens of the species exported to date (including those covered by the permit) and the annual quota for the species, in the following format:

– In this example 1250 specimens of the species concerned have been authorized to be exported to date (including those on the current permit), out of an annual quota of 4,000 in the year concerned

11. Quantity (including unit) 11a. Total exported/Quota

250 1250/4000

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Do not exceed quotas!

• Exceeding an annual quota, even a voluntary annual quota, is regarded as a serious CITES implementation problem by the CITES community

• This has led to the suspension of trade in some species from certain Parties

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Communicating national quotas

• It is recommended that a Party inform the Secretariat when it has established export quotas

• The Secretariat no longer communicates a list of national export quotas through Notifications, but includes the information provided on its web site

• The quotas on the CITES website are being kept up to date throughout the year to reflect late announcements of quotas, corrections or modifications

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Communicating national quotas

• The inclusion of quotas in this list does NOT imply endorsement by the Secretariat, because the Secretariat does NOT determine the level of national quotas

• The Secretariat may request clarification and supporting information from a Party whenever a concern about a specific quota arises

• The Secretariat may decline to publish a quota when it has inadequate information about the status of the species concerned and its management

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Problems with establishing national quotas

• Too many annual export quotas appear to be somewhat arbitrary and not based on recent scientific information about the status of the wild population or the impacts of harvesting on this wild population

– Establishing a quota does not necessarily amount to making a non-detriment finding

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Problems with establishing national quotas

• Some Parties submit quotas for species that are not known to occur in that country

– Quotas in such cases can only be accepted if the specimens that would be exported as part of such a quota originate in captive breeding operations or from artificial propagation

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Problems with establishing national quotas

• Some Parties submit quotas for taxa using common names or scientific names that do not appear in the CITES checklist or are contrary to the standard nomenclature adopted by the Conference of the Parties

– The Secretariat cannot publish a quota unless it is clear what species the name refers to

– This problem may arise because some countries use outdated references or have to use names incorporated in their national legislation that are now out of date

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Problems with establishing national quotas

• Some Parties fail to indicate the source and type of specimens included in a quota

– Some importing countries may not accept export permits indicating a quota with a type or source of specimen not specified in the quota

– Wrong impressions are created of high levels of trade in wild specimens or live specimens if the quota refers to specimens of captive bred or ranching origin or consist of parts and derivatives

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Problems with establishing national quotas

• Quotas for species that have not previously been subject to a quota are often unrealistically high, possibly due to a lack of understanding of what the import market can absorb

– There is a real risk that stricter domestic measures will be applied in major importing countries to restrict trade in cases where very high quotas are established for species by countries that have not previously had quotas for such species

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Complying with national quotas

• Parties can issue export permits referring to quotas from the previous year only when having informed the Secretariat before 15 January of the new year about the quantities still held in stock and the reason why they had not been exported in the preceding year

– The quotas for any year should not be set at a level to include specimens that were obtained for export in the previous year but for which no export permit was issued in that year

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Carry-over of quotas

2011 2012

Quota = 4000 4000

Harvest = 3500

Export = 3250

Not exported = 250

If reasons are explained to Secretariat before 15 January 2012 250

4000+250

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Complying with national quotas

• If annual export quotas are exceeded

– This may indicate inadequate quota management and administration

– This may ultimately result in the suspension of trade through the Review of Significant Trade, recommendations by the Standing Committee or stricter domestic measures by importing countries

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Complying with national quotas

• Actual exports are frequently much lower than annual export quotas

– Exporting at levels far below a quota usually suggests that the quota was set arbitrarily

– This may indicate a flexible, open-ended trade policy or administratively established quotas

– This could result from unawareness of market trends, inaccurate judgment of national levels of production, or unrealistic expectations re. levels of trade

– It may however also indicate that a species has been excessively harvested and that quotas can no longer be met, which may result in actions to restrict further trade

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Complying with national quotas

• Several countries have established quotas for specimens from sources other than wild populations

– It can be argued that export quotas for specimens from any source other than a wild population in the country of export are potentially confusing, particularly when referring to non-native species

Chersina angulata Angulated tortoise (Photo: P.Dollinger)

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Quotas established by the COP

• At previous meetings, the COP established quotas for several species, either through the adoption of resolutions or the amendment of the Appendices to include annotations to the listing of species that refer to quotas for those species or some populations of those species

• Such quotas can only be amended if a future Conference of the Parties adopts by a two-third majority a proposal to amend a listing or a resolution

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Quotas established by the COP

• Examples of such quotas are:

– In the Appendices

• Tanzania; Crocodylus niloticus (1600)

• Namibia: Acinonyx jubatus (150)

– Through Resolutions

• Leopard Panthera pardus Resolution Conf. 10.14 (Rev. CoP16)

• Black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis Resolution Conf. 13.5 (Rev. CoP14)

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Quotas for shared resources

• With the adoption of Resolution 12.7 (Rev. CoP16) the Conference of the Parties recommend that catch and export quotas for sturgeons are agreed among the States sharing the resource

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Quotas for shared resources

• This bio-geographic approach may in future be considered for other species as well

– Especially in cases where national quotas may not be sufficient to ensure that migratory or shared populations are harvested sustainably

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Quotas established through the Review of Significant Trade (RST)

• Export quotas have also been established through the Review of Significant Trade Resolution Conf. 12.8 (Rev. CoP13)

• In such cases the Animals Committee has recommended Parties to conduct status assessments of wild populations as the basis for future exports and export quotas, and/or to establish cautious quotas

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Amending RST quotas

• Export quotas established through the Review of Significant Trade can only be amended if:

– a country has fully complied with the recommendations of the Animals Committee; or

– in specific cases where the Standing Committee has agreed that the Secretariat should guide countries concerning quota levels and information has been presented to justify an amendment to such quotas

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What next?

• The expectation that annual quotas should be based on detailed demographic information on the harvested population and the use of some or other harvesting model may be unrealistic or not possible to accomplish

– In practice, such information is seldom available for more than a few populations and then only for a limited number of years

– Other options could be considered in cases where countries are not able to intensively study harvested populations at an appropriate scale and for long enough to show with high probability that a particular level of offtakes can be sustainable

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What next?

• In the absence of detailed information about harvested populations, the following interim options could be considered:

– Apply an adaptive management approach for quotas and monitoring

– Combine quotas with other measures such as a tagging or marking system, or restrictions on the locality and time of harvesting or the minimum size of specimens

– Include monitoring programmes (e.g. catch per unit effort; market surveys)

– Of “least risk” is to allow harvest of wild specimens only in a portion of the species range; for a limited period; or targeting a biologically less important class of specimens

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Summary

• Quotas limit the number of species in trade, for different purposes

• Quotas must be communicated to be effective

• Quotas must be controlled

• Problems with the implementation of quotas can have a negative impact on trade

• Quotas can be established by individual Parties; by the COP; by all Parties sharing a particular resource; and through the Significant Trade Review

• Practical and realistic approaches to quotas should be found and used

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Useful references

• www.cites.org -- Export quotas

• Resolution Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP16)

• Resolution Conf. 10.14 (Rev. CoP16)

• Resolution Conf. 10.15 (Rev. CoP14)

• Resolution Conf. 12.3 (Rev. CoP16)

• Resolution Conf. 12.8 (Rev. CoP13)

• Resolution Conf. 13.5 (Rev. CoP14)

• Resolution Conf. 14.7 (Rev. CoP15)

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CITES SecretariatGeneva