CITES, fisheries and electronic information

3rd meeting of the UNECE TOSSF, Daniel Kachelriess,CITES Scientific Services Team

CITES is a multilateral agreement

which combines wildlife management and trade measures within a legally binding instrument (hard law)

underpinned by an effective compliance mechanism (teeth)

achieving conservation and sustainable use objectives

CITES Objectives‘Ensuring that no species of wild fauna or flora becomes or remains subject to unsustainable exploitation through international trade…’

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Legality

specimens are legally obtained

Sustainability

wildlife trade is not detrimental to the survival of species

Traceability

trade can be traced from

origin to final destination

[CITES vision statement]

The role of CITES

• CITES’ role is at the interface between sustainable use and international trade for fisheries, focusing on species that have declined to a level that requires strong trade and management measures to maintain or rebuild stocks.

• CITES plays a well-targeted role in advancing implementation of SDG 14 as a trade-related measure with effective compliance procedures.

• CITES complements the work of other organizations to improve fisheries management

CITES permits

• Animals and plants (live, dead, parts and derivatives)

• Permits and certificates issued under certain conditions: – Lawfully obtained– Trade will not be

detrimental to the survivalof the species

import export re-export introduction from the sea

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International trade - Exports

Before an export permit is granted, the State of Export makes:

[CITES Art IV 2]

Scientific Authority

Non-detriment (sustainability) finding (NDF)

Management Authority

Legal acquisition finding (LAF)

Living specimen handled to minimize the risk of

injury, damage to health or cruel treatment

BBB

EEZ

B

High Seas

A

A

A

High Seas

A

Import/Export

IFS: Import/Export

IFS

CITES Trade transactions – fisheries context

Introduction from high Seas

Before an IFS certificate is granted, the State of introduction must ensure:

[CITES Art IV 6 and 7]Scientific Authority

Non-detriment (sustainability) finding (NDF)

may involve consultation with other national SAs or

international scientific authorities

Management Authority

Living specimen handled to minimize the risk of

injury, damage to health or cruel treatment

• “Two tracks” on traceability1) General workstream on Traceability; 2) Traceability in the context of implementation for sharks (2014-2016)– Overview studies with CITES context and fisheries

context– Country case study in Costa Rica

• Also: electronic permitting• Proliferation of standards is a problem

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CITES, fisheries & electronic information

Case study: Costa RicaCatch

document(s)Export

Permit (s)

Database

• Between CoP17 to CoP18 an intersessional working group of the Standing Committee discussed traceability and developed draft decisions (see document CoP18. Doc. 42 Rev.1)

• CoP18 adopted these decisions with small amendments (see CoP18 Com. II Rec. 10 (Rev.1) as Decisions 18.144 and 18.145.

• Main elements of relevance to this meeting:– Working definition of CITES for traceability: “Traceability is the ability to

access information on specimens and events in a CITES species supply chain” (Decision 18.144 a)

– Information on Traceability available on the CITES website (Decision 18.144 b)

– Secretariat to continue to work with the UN/CEFACT and other relevant standard-setting bodies on the potential for integration of CITES traceability systems into international traceability standards and recommendations for traceability (Decision 18.145 d)

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Traceability at CITES CoP18

• Between CoP17 to CoP18 an intersessional working group of the Standing Committee discussed electronic systems and information technology in the CITES context and develop draft decisions (see document CoP18. Doc. 41)

• CoP18 adopted these decisions (see CoP18 Com. II Rec. 10 (Rev.1) as Decisions 18.125 - 18.128.

• Main information of relevance to this meeting:– Information on eCITES available on the CITES website, including links to the

epermitting toolkit, eCITES Implementation Framework and ASYCUDA eCITESsystem

– CITES uses the ePermitting toolkit standard for electronic permits. This standard is built on the UN/CEFACT eCERT standard which is built using the Cefact Core Component Library (CCL). It is therefore fully compatible with FLUX

– Secretariat and Standing Committee to work with the UN/CEFACT, UNCTAD, ITC, WB, WCO and WTO and others to continue the development of joint projects that would facilitate Parties’ access to electronic permitting services and their alignment to international trade standards and norms, such as the further development and implementation of the UNCTAD aCITES system; (Decision 18.126 a)

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ePermitting at CITES CoP18

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Where and when is information needed?

Possible CITES transaction: import/export

Possible CITES transaction: IFS

CITES transactions: import/export

All these CITES transactions require:• Non –detriment finding • Legal acquisition finding or equivalent under IFS

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www.cites.org

Thank you for your attention!