16 new species listed into CITES for protection

Sixteen new species were added into the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at requests of Nicaragua, Pakistan and Russia for their protection against over-exploitation through international trade, said CITES Secretariat here on Wednesday.

The new listings in CITES Appendix III included tree species Mongolian oak and Manchurian ash requested by Russia, Yucatan rosewood by Nicaragua and thirteen species of animals such as blackbuck, nilgai, striped hyaena, kalij pheasant and peafowl pheasant by Pakistan.

The listings of high-value timber species, mammals and birds would enter into force on 24 June, which means that all cross-border shipments of specimens covered by the listing would have to be authorized by the issuance of a document certifying the legal origin of the products covered by the listing.

"The requests of the Governments of Nicaragua, Pakistan and the Russian Federation to include these species in Appendix III, show that range states are increasingly recognizing the value of CITES in ensuring legal and traceable international trade at both ends of the value chain," said John Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General, in a statement.

CITES, signed in Washington D.C., the U.S. in 1973 and having 180 member parties at the present, regulates international trade in over 35,000 species of plants and animals, including their products and derivatives, serving as an important tool for biodiversity conservation.

The CITES permit system seeks to ensure that international trade in listed species is sustainable, legal and traceable, so as to ensure their survival in the wild with benefits for the livelihoods of local people and the global environment.

It has three appendices listing species afforded different levels or types of protection from over-exploitation.

The first two respectively list species that are threatened with extinction and international trade is prohibited except that the purpose of the import is not commercial, and those that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled.

The Appendix III included all species which any party to the convention identifies as being subject to regulation within its jurisdiction for the purposes of preventing or restricting exploitation, and as needing the co-operation of other parties in the control of trade.

Inclusion in Appendix III is undertaken at the specific request of the state of origin and does not require a decision of the conference of the parties.