U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

What is CITES?

The Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and

Flora (CITES) is an international treaty

aimed at regulating the worldwide trade

in protected species. CITES became

effective July 1, 1975, with the United

States as one of the original 10 Party

countries. There are currently over 160

Party countries. CITES is administered

through the United Nations

Environment Programme (UNEP) and

is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

English, French, and Spanish are the

official working languages.

CITES provides for a permanent

Secretariat. The Secretariat: (1) provides

Parties with trade information and

technical support; (2) acts as a liaison

among Parties; (3) contracts trade

studies; (4) informs governments and the

public about CITES wildlife trade

developments; (5) investigates possible

CITES violations and trade threats to

wildlife; and (6) organizes meetings of the

COPs.

CITES is implemented in the United

States under the Endangered Species

CITES Meetings of the Conference of

the Parties (COPs)

Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

is the lead agency for U.S. CITES

implementation.

How do the permanent committees

work?

The Parties adopted a resolution that

establishes the CITES Standing,

Animals, Plants, and Nomenclature

Committees. Each Committee works

between COPs to resolve issues carried

over from past committee meetings and

COPs, as well as identifying new issues in

need of resolution.

The Standing Committee provides the

Secretariat with policy and operational

direction concerning CITES

implementation. The Animals and Plants

Committees provide scientific expertise

on species, and review trade impacts on

species of particular concern. The United

States is an active participant in all

CITES matters and attends committee

meetings. The Nomenclature Committee

consists of one botanist and one zoologist,

who develop standardized lists of species

and provide guidance on matters

involving scientific names used in the

CITES Appendices.

What is a COP?

The Parties meet approximately every 2

years at a COP. During this

2-week long meeting, they review and

vote on (1) proposed resolutions and

decisions to improve the effectiveness of

CITES and (2) amendments to the

listings of protected species on the

CITES Appendices. They also resolve

policy and implementation issues.

Each COP is hosted by a Party.

Attendants include delegations from the

Parties, representatives of the CITES

Secretariat and UNEP, and approved

non-governmental organizations (NGOs),

who attend as observers.

What is involved in preparing for a

COP?

Any Party may submit agenda items,

proposed resolutions, decisions, and

amendments to the Appendices for

consideration by the Parties at a COP.

Parties must submit them to the

Secretariat 150 days prior to the COP.

The Secretariat, Standing Committee,

Animals Committee, and Plants

Committee may also submit agenda

items, and proposed resolutions and

decisions at a COP.

CITES text finalized at the 1973 Conference held in Washington, D.C.

photograph taken at the U.S. Department of State
Prior to the start of a COP, the

Secretariat provides the Parties with all

of the agenda items, proposed

resolutions, decisions, and amendments

to the Appendices submitted for

consideration. Each Party reviews this

information and develops negotiating

positions.

How does the United States prepare for

a COP?

The U.S. Government begins to prepare

for a COP almost immediately after the

previous COP ends. Through a series of

Federal Register notices and public

meetings, the Service includes the public

in the process. An approximate schedule

for COP preparation is:

! 16-22 months prior to the COP, the

Service publishes a public notice in the

Federal Register requesting

recommendations on proposed

amendments to the Appendices.

! 16 months prior to the COP, the

Service publishes a public notice

requesting recommendations on

agenda items, and proposed

resolutions and decisions.

! 10 months prior to the COP, the

Service publishes a notice announcing

agenda items, and proposed

resolutions, decisions, and

amendments to the Appendices that

the United States is considering

submitting for the COP. The notice

asks for public comment and

schedules a public meeting.

! 9 months prior to the COP, the Service

holds a public meeting to discuss

proposed U.S. submissions for the

COP.

! 5 months prior to the COP, the Service

provides the Secretariat with U.S.

submissions for consideration at the

COP, and posts on its website an

announcement of the agenda items,

and proposed resolutions, decisions,

and amendments to the Appendices

that the U.S. submitted for the COP.

! 2 months prior to the COP, the Service

publishes a notice announcing

proposed U.S. negotiating positions on

agenda items, and proposed

resolutions and amendments to the

Appendices submitted by other

Parties for the COP. The notice asks

for public comment and schedules a

public meeting.

! 11⁄2 months prior to the COP, the

Service holds a public meeting to

discuss proposed U.S. negotiating

positions.

What happens at a COP?

Each Party may send a delegation to the

COP to discuss the issues for

consideration. Representatives of the

Secretariat attend and are responsible

for taking the minutes of the meeting and

providing the delegations with copies of

the meeting documents.

Approved observers may attend Plenary

and committee sessions and comment in

these sessions on issues. However, they

are not permitted to vote on proposals

raised. In addition, the U.S. delegation

holds daily meetings during the COP to

brief U.S. NGOs on current

developments.

The business of the COP is discussed in

sessions of the Plenary, Committee I, and

Committee II:

! The Plenary

The first session of the Plenary opens

the COP, establishes the rules of

procedure, and adopts the COP

agenda and working programs. The

COP then breaks into committees

where most of the issues for

consideration of the Parties are

discussed. Although the committees

make recommendations to the

Plenary, the Plenary is the forum

where amendments, resolutions, and

decisions are actually approved. The

Plenary meets again near the end of

the COP to resolve outstanding

issues, finalize recommendations from

the committees, select the host

country of the next COP, and close the

meeting. During the closing session of

the Plenary, Parties may reopen

discussion of issues from any of the

other committees before approval.

All Parties with credentialed

delegations present at the COP may

vote “yes,” “no,” or “abstain” on any of

the items put to a vote in the

committees and the Plenary.

! Committee I

Agenda items related to proposed

amendments to the Appendices and

other scientific issues are discussed in

Committee I. Parties may propose to

list, uplist, downlist, or delist species

in Appendix I and II. Committee I

also considers proposals regarding

export quotas and ranching

operations. In order for a proposed

amendment to the Appendices to be

adopted, it must be approved by

consensus or by a 2/3 majority vote of

the Parties voting. The determinations

reached in Committee I are held until

the closing Plenary session for final

approval.

! Committee II

Agenda items related to CITES

implementation are discussed in

Committee II. Resolutions and

decisions are adopted by consensus or

a 2/3 majority vote of the Parties

voting. Often, a proposed resolution or

decision is revised based on

discussions in Committee II and

submissions from working groups,

and the revised version is then

adopted. The determinations reached

in Committee II are held until the

closing Plenary session for final

approval.

What are the results of a COP?

At each of the meetings, the Parties

adopt resolutions and decisions and

amendments to the Appendices.

Resolutions provide long-term guidance

on the interpretation and implementation

of the treaty. Decisions typically contain

instructions to one of the permanent

committees, the Parties, or the

Secretariat on actions that are to be

implemented, often by a specified time,

and then become out of date.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

International Affairs

Division of Management Authority

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 700

Arlington, VA 22203

703/358-2104 or 800/358-2104

Fax 703/358-2281

e-mail: managementauthority@fws.gov

http://international.fws.gov

http://permits.fws.gov

Summer 2003