Good morning and
thank you to our colleagues from Sri Lanka Tourism for organizing today’s
Public Seminar and for giving me the opportunity to address you.
In particular, I
would like to thank and to recognize the Hon. John Amaratunga, Minister of
Tourism Development and Christian Affairs, the Hon. Gamini Jayawickrema
Perera, Minister for Sustainable Development and Wildlife and their staff.
Questions of how
CITES works what CITES is, and is not, are frequently raised by the media and
members of the general public and it is a great topic for today’s event.
In the time
available, I will touch upon some of the issues that arise most often, and in
particular, I will spend some time focusing on wildlife based tourism, which
was profiled at a recent World Bank event, and law enforcement, as it is a
topic that generates a lot of discussion.
The origins of
CITES
Prior to the
adoption of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora), international trade in wildlife was not regulated at
the global level.
Consequently,
with the exception of certain national laws or bilateral or regional
agreements1, a State was free to trade with any other State in wild animal or
plant species, in any quantity, and without needing to report such trade to any
global entity.2
The need for a
convention to regulate international wildlife trade was first identified in a
decision of the IUCN General Assembly held in Nairobi back in 1963. The 1972 UN
Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm, called for negotiations
on a convention to be concluded as soon as possible and the US Government
heeded this call by hosting a Plenipotentiary Conference in 1973, which
resulted in CITES being adopted on 3 March.3 Today CITES has 182 States
Parties4 and it is regarded as one of the most successful of all international
environment-related agreements, noting that CITES is increasingly being
recognized in the context of sustainable development, as I will explain.
Following on
from a Resolution adopted at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties
to CITES (Bangkok, 2013), the UN General Assembly in December 2013 recognized 3
March, the date of adoption of CITES, as UN World Wildlife Day.
This year World
Wildlife Day will be celebrated (or observed) under the theme ‘the future of
wildlife is in our hands’ and I do hope you all join in the celebrations on 3
March.
How CITES works
Let me take a
few moments to briefly describe how CITES work and what it is and isn’t.
Perhaps the
first thing to note in the context of this Symposium is that, while some
countries make international agreements part of their national law, CITES is
not a self-executing instrument. It
places obligations on States that are Party to the Convention that must be
given expression through national laws, including the designation of relevant
authorities, ensuring trade in CITES-listed species is in accordance with the
provisions of the Convention, and penalizing trade that takes place in
violation thereof.
CITES is a
unique instrument in that it has also established compliance processes, which
include the ability for the Standing Committee to take certain compliance
measures. These include measures that have been taken in relation to
unsustainable levels of trade, a failure to submit annual reports, inadequate
legislation, and a persistent failure to implement the Convention effectively,
some of which I will address in further detail through the course of this
speech.5
CITES is both a
trade-related and a conservation convention. CITES uses trade-related measures
to achieve its conservation objective, which is to ensure that wildlife, both
animals and plants, is not unsustainably exploited through international
trade.6
The Convention
regulates commercial and non-commercial international trade in over 35,000
species of animals and plants, including their parts and derivatives, which
often find their way into medicines, food, building materials, cosmetics,
clothes or furniture. The nature of the various trade measures utilized by
CITES to regulate this trade depends primarily upon the biological status of
the species.
For certain
species,7 commercial international trade in wild taken specimens is prohibited.
These species are included in Appendix I of the Convention and they are
categorized as threatened with extinction.
This prohibition includes commercial trade in elephant ivory, rhino
horn, great apes, marine turtles and tigers.
For other
species commercial international trade is subject to strict regulation to be
sure it is legal, sustainable and traceable.8 These species are included in
Appendix II of the Convention and they are categorized as not yet necessarily
threatened with extinction but they could become so if trade is not strictly
regulated. This regulated legal trade includes commercial trade in crocodile
and python skins, the meat of the queen conch, the wool of the vicuña, and the
bark of the African cherry tree.9
While different
species of animals and plants are included on different appendices, the
Convention does not draw any distinction between charismatic and lesser-known
species, although the attention paid to different species, of animals in
particular, varies considerably. In that sense, one could say that while all
animals are equal under CITES, in the court of public opinion "some
animals are more equal than others."10
While CITES is
both a conservation and a trade-related Convention, it neither promotes nor
discourages trade, rather it regulates trade in CITES-listed wildlife when it
does take place to ensure it is legal, sustainable and traceable. Under
international law States have sovereign rights to exploit their own biological
resources.11 The decision whether or not to allow trade is one for the country
itself to determine – subject, of course, to meeting their international
commitments, and in particular those under CITES.
CITES – a
vibrant convention that continues to evolve
The world has
changed a lot since 1975 when CITES entered into force. In that time we have
witnessed growing prosperity, changing consumption and production patterns,
vastly enhanced scientific knowledge, phenomenal advances in technology and,
above all, exponential growth in global trade. Looking at population figures
alone, the world's population has grown from 4 to over 7 billion people – and
that is an additional 3 billion potential consumers of wildlife and wildlife
products.
Yet, CITES has
remained as relevant today as when it first entered into force over 40 years
ago. This is because CITES is and has remained a focused, action-orientated and
vibrant convention.
CITES has
continued to evolve over time in response to changing conditions in many ways,
including through developing compliance procedures, bringing new marine and
timber species under CITES12 trade controls, making the best use of emerging
technologies and strengthening cooperative implementation and enforcement
efforts.13
This evolution
will continue and in this context I note that Sri Lanka has submitted a
proposal to the next CITES Conference of the Parties, CITES CoP 17 to be held
in Johannesburg, South Africa starting in September of this year, to add three
species of thresher shark to the CITES Appendix II. This proposal will now go
through a process of review and will then be presented by Sri Lanka to the 182
Parties to CITES at CoP17 for their consideration.
CITES and
sustainable development
The enduring
relevance of CITES was perhaps most powerfully expressed through the agreed
outcomes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20 in 2012,
which recognized the important role of CITES as “an international agreement
that stands at the intersection between trade, the environment and
development.”14
This outcome has
reinforced the links between CITES implementation and sustainable development,
which has taken on even greater significance with the UN General Assembly
adopting the first specific resolution on Tackling Illicit Wildlife Trafficking
in July of this year and with UNGA adopting the Sustainable Development Goals
in September of last year, which include specific targets on tackling illegal
trade in wildlife15.
The legal and
sustainable use of wildlife will also contribute to a number of the SDGs and
targets, including Goal 1 on ending poverty, as well as Goals 12, 14, 15, 16
and 17, which specify that member States will, inter alia, conserve and
sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable
development and protect, restore and promote sustainable use of ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests and halt biodiversity loss.
CITES
implementation will contribute in many ways to achieving these Goals and
related targets.
CITES,
international trade and the WTO
As you will have
gathered, CITES sets the agreed multilateral measures to regulate international
wildlife trade for CITES-listed species. This means CITES has a direct
interface with the international trade rules.
The CITES
regulatory regime has harmoniously coexisted with the World Trade Organization
(WTO) (and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) for
over 40 years, which we recently detailed in the 2015 publication CITES and the
WTO Enhancing Cooperation for Sustainable Development. As this publication points out, there has not
been any WTO dispute directly challenging a CITES trade measure in the 40+ year
history of the Convention.
Without CITES,
international trade in wildlife would be unregulated. Such trade would only be
regulated by national laws, where they exist, (or through bilateral and
regional agreements), whose application could well lead to disputes under the
WTO.
The Lacey Act of
the U.S.A. dates back to 1900 and is perhaps the most well known example of a
pre CITES national law to regulate wildlife trade across internal and
international borders. Since CITES came into force in 1975, it is the U.S.
Endangered Species Act that primarily incorporates international obligations
under CITES into national law as well as U.S. stricter domestic measures that
go beyond CITES.
CITES and
conservation, including sustainable use
When a State
does decide to trade in a CITES-listed species the Convention sets out three
requirements that must be met, namely the need to:
make a legal
acquisition finding – being a certification that the specimens have been taken
in accordance with national law;
make a
non-detriment finding – being a science-based biological sustainability finding
that takes account of the role of the species in the in its ecosystem;
issue the
appropriate permit/certificate and report the trade – being the formal
authorization and report of the trade transaction to the CITES Secretariat.
There are over
15,000,000 recorded authorized trade transactions in the CITES trade data base.
Legal and sustainable trade can have benefits for both wildlife and people,
which has been formally recognized by CITES.16 The recovery of the vicuña in
South America is one such example of where local people and wildlife have
benefited from well-regulated trade. Georgia offers another excellent example
with the trade of in snowdrop bulbs. Georgia exports annually some 15 million
wild, CITES-listed snowdrop bulbs, providing a sizeable income for local people
and incentives for protecting the fragile mountain ecosystems where the bulbs
are harvested.
CITES
continually reviews the levels of international trade in CITES-listed species
through its Review of Significant Trade.17 This is conducted by the CITES
Animals and Plants Committees, which can ask exporting Parties questions about
the levels of trade, including about their non-detriment finding, and make
recommendations to the Party. If recommendations are not adequately
implemented, be the Standing Committee can take compliance measures,18 which
can, as a last resort, result in a recommendation to suspend trade in the
affected species.
CITES and
livelihoods and local communities
As mentioned
above, CITES recognizes the potential positive and negative impacts CITES can
have on livelihoods. Legal and sustainable trade can have benefits for both
wildlife and people, as has been referred to, but listings may also have
negative impacts on livelihoods. CITES recognizes these issues and several
CITES resolutions and decisions are focused on identifying such impacts and
mitigating any negative impacts.19 This recognition is however in the context
of implementing decisions to list species under CITES, rather than in
considering a decision on whether to list a species or not.
The increasing
recognition of the importance of engaging with local communities in
implementing CITES, both for well regulated trade and combatting illegal trade,
has seen the active engagement of the UN Development Programme, the World Bank
and regional organizations such as OAS (Organization of American States) and
others in the work of CITES.
CITES and
wildlife based tourism
In December of
last year, the World Bank Group Forum Highlighted the Economic Power of
Tourism, including the benefits of wildlife based tourism. The event showcased
the role that tourism can play in enhancing economic growth and in lifting
people out of poverty, as well as its links to the SDGs (Sustainable
Development Goals).
Wildlife based
tourism can greatly benefit wild animals and plants, local communities and
national economies. In some countries, such as Kenya, it is a major contributor
to GDP and generates many jobs for local communities.
And wildlife
based tourism is an increasingly important contributor to Sri Lanka’s
economy. The “top seven”20 wild animals
found in Sri Lanka, representing the land and the sea, have been identified –
six of which are CITES-listed, and they are being actively promoted as a major
part of Sri Lanka’s tourism appeal.
In fact, many
developing countries are blessed with abundant wildlife assets, but these
assets are also under multiple threats, including from poaching and smuggling
and conflicts between people and wild animals. And if this precious wildlife is
lost, so too is the tourism and the jobs and that goes with them. Wildlife is an asset to be cherished from
many perspectives – aesthetic, scientific, cultural, recreational and economic
– and these wildlife assets need to be continually nurtured and protected in
order to grow their tourism potential.
Well managed
wildlife based tourism can serve to drive away poachers and smugglers and allow
local people and national governments to develop their own natural resources –
rather than have them plundered by illegal traders who exploit wildlife for a
short term illicit profit putting money in the hands of organized criminals,
often in distant lands, at the expense of local people, national economies and wildlife.
Tomorrow Sri
Lanka will destroy 359 pieces of confiscated African elephant ivory weighing
1,529 kilograms in a very public expression of its unwavering determination to
put an end to illicit wildlife trafficking. These efforts will in turn assist local
communities and national governments in African States in their efforts to
protect their own wildlife and the tourism benefits it can generate.
Wildlife based
tourism can also serve as an incentive to help achieve harmony between local
people and wildlife, especially where local people are deriving their
livelihoods from this tourism.
It can be a
win-win-win. But it needs to be managed carefully and sustainably and with
benefits accruing to the local people who are living amongst wildlife.
CITES and animal
welfare and animal rights
The issues of
animal welfare and animal rights can generate a lot of media attention,
especially regarding charismatic CITES-listed animals, both through traditional
and social media. We saw this most recently with the extraordinary global media
attention surrounding the killing of a male African lion in Zimbabwe that was
given the name Cecil. This is one area where national, rather than
international law, sets most of the rules and as such it varies considerably
from one State to another – noting that the issue of animal rights is related –
yet distinct from – animal welfare.21
CITES was the
first, and possibly remains the only, global legal instrument to address animal
welfare,22 while noting some issues have been considered by the World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE)23 and that several other conventions have
adopted certain resolutions that relate to aspects of animal welfare.24
The animal
welfare provisions under CITES are specific and targeted. They address the
transport of live animals so as to minimize the risk of injury, damage to heath
or cruel treatment and ensure the suitability of places destined to receive
live animals25, including rescue centers. Guidance on meeting these CITES
obligations have been provided by the Parties in some instances, such as
through the guidelines on the transport of live specimens26.
However, to
date, States have considered that most animal welfare issues should be
addressed through domestic law rather than international law and there is
currently no global treaty governing either animal welfare or animal rights,
although efforts have been made by some NGOs in this regard.27 It is perhaps
partly for this reason that CITES has been used as a forum for the expression
of a wide range of differing and passionately held views on international trade
in wild animals, including on particular trade transactions, whether all of the
actions sought by various actors fall under the current mandate of CITES or
not.
And CITES is
possibly the only global forum in which we see experts and advocacy groups from
such a wide range of perspectives – conservation and sustainable use, trade,
development, livelihoods, animal welfare and animal rights – come together in
one place to discuss, and contribute to the making of decisions and
recommendations on such issues, which is a great strength of CITES.
In this context,
it is worth noting that CITES does not prevent countries from taking measures
that go beyond what is agreed through CITES, which are known as stricter
domestic measures. Such measures do however need to be consistent with a
country’s obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization.
CITES and illegal
trade in wildlife – when international trade is illegal
CITES regulates
international trade in CITES-listed wildlife, and, as mentioned earlier, this
involves addressing both legal and illegal trade. For domestic or international
trade in wildlife to be described as illegal or as ‘illicit wildlife
trafficking’, which is often used to refer to illegal trade, it must contravene
either domestic or international law (or both).
CITES obliges
States that are Party to the Convention to (inter alia) not to trade in listed
species other than in accordance with the Convention, to take appropriate
measures to enforce the Convention and to prohibit trade in violation thereof,
including measures to penalize such trade.
Consequently,
illegal trade, or ‘illicit wildlife trafficking’, under CITES includes trading
commercially in wild-taken specimens of Appendix I listed species and failing
to obtain, or to follow the conditions within, the necessary permits or
certificates to trade in Appendix I, II or III listed species, as well as the
illegal possession of specimens illegally imported or otherwise acquired.
The scale of
illegal trade in wildlife and the international response
Leaving aside
timber and marine products, it is estimated that the annual value of wildlife crime
is up to USD 20 billion a year ranking it amongst other serious transnational
crimes such as the trafficking in people and arms. Let me share just three
examples to illustrate the scale of the illegal taking that feeds this illicit
trade:
The poaching of
African elephants and the illegal trade in their ivory is one of the most
noticeable and destructive forms of wildlife crime. Over the period 2010-2012,
an estimated 100,000 elephants were poached for their ivory. In some regions, such as Central Africa,
killings far exceed births, putting regional populations at imminent risk of
extinction.
The recovery of
the White rhino is a great conservation success story, mainly due to the
efforts undertaken in South Africa, but these gains are now under threat. Poaching was well under control up until 2007
when only 13 animals were poached. Since that time we have seen a rapidly
increasing level of poaching, which reached a high in 2014 with 1,215 rhino
poached in South Africa alone for their horn, with a similar number estimated
for 2015.
And these crimes
are not only affecting iconic species that we all know well. Lesser known
species such as the pangolin, a small ant eater living in Africa and Asia, are
being poached at a massive rate for
their scales and meat, with 10 tonnes of pangolin meat being recovered in just
one customs seizure– that is the equivalent of 130 people of my weight.
But it is not
only animals that are suffering from illegal trade, so are many plants. For
example:
The illegal
logging and illegal trade in rosewood worldwide is having a devastating impact
on the rosewood as well as the forests where it is found. Even in some
‘protected areas’, we see industrial scale illegal logging taking place. CITES
is working with its partners to address this highly destructive plundering of
rosewood in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
And these crimes
are not only affecting iconic timber species. Lesser known species such
agarwood producing trees are illegally taken for the precious timber that is
impregnated with a highly valuable resin. Agarwood is in fact the most
expensive wildlife product traded under CITES, with one kilogram of woodchips of the highest quality reaching a
price of up to two million USD in the international market.
Yet, if
effectively regulated, legal trade in both of these tree species, which are
found on Appendix II of CITES, could be put on a sustainable level with
benefits for people and wildlife.
The
international response to illegal trade in wildlife
While combatting
illicit wildlife trafficking presents major challenges, the positive news is
that there is a global collective effort underway to combat it and we are
witnessing encouraging progress both at national and international level in
response to the changing dynamic of these highly destructive crimes, some
aspects of which I will highlight.
The 2012 UN Conference
on Sustainable Development, whose outcomes were endorsed in a resolution of the
UN General Assembly, explicitly recognized the “economic, social and
environmental impacts of illicit trafficking in wildlife, where firm and
strengthened action needs to be taken on both the supply and demand sides” and
has emphasized “the importance of effective international cooperation among
relevant multilateral environmental agreements and international
organizations.”28
This message was
powerfully reinforced in July of this year when the UN General Assembly
unanimously adopted a resolution on ‘Tackling Illicit Trafficking in Wildlife’,
being the first dedicated resolution on the topic adopted by the UNGA. This
resolution was the culmination of several years of increasing political
attention being paid to the devastating impacts of illegal trade in wildlife.
The UNGA has
also adopted the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) in September of last
year, which includes specific targets on tackling illegal trade in wildlife.
These
resolutions, and those taken by CITES and others, recognize that illicit
wildlife trafficking increasingly involves transnational organized crime groups
and in some cases rebel militia and rouge elements of the military. This has
changed the dynamics of combating this highly destructive criminal activity, in
particular as it relates to some charismatic species, such as elephants and
rhinos.
The importance
of treating certain illicit wildlife trafficking as a serious crime29 has been
recognized by the UN General Assembly and others along with the need to combat
corruption. The need for States to engage with Customs, the police, rangers or
inspectors, the judiciary, and sometimes the military to implement CITES
effectively is also recognized, which may necessitate intervention from the
highest political level.
The UN General
Assembly, CITES Parties and others have recognized the need to ‘mainstream’
wildlife crime in calling for all States to consider becoming Parties to the UN
Conventions against Corruption and Transnational Organized Crime. As a
consequence, international organizations that deal with Customs, the police,
the judiciary, and related conventions dealing with corruption and
transnational organized crime, become an essential part of the architecture for
implementing CITES and combating illicit wildlife trafficking. The ultimate
objective is for such entities to include the combating of illicit wildlife
trafficking in their core programmes and as a part of their daily work.30
And great
strides were made in this direction when five key intergovernmental agencies
dealing with wildlife crime formed a new alliance in 2010 called the
International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime31 (ICCWC) – an initiative
that is providing coordinated support and technical assistance to countries,
including on the use of sophisticated investigative and anti-money laundering
techniques, the sharing of intelligence and modern forensics. ICCWC has just
celebrated its 5th Anniversary and at the 66th meeting of the CITES Standing
Committee just two weeks ago it launched its Strategic Programme 2016-2020 and
enforcement indicators framework.
We have also
seen the United Nations Security Council adopt two Resolutions on UN sanctions
targeting armed groups in the Central African Republic and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo32 financed by the illegal exploitation of natural
resources, including poaching and illicit wildlife trade. Individuals or entities involved will be
subject to travel bans and asset freezes.
Such measures are critical when dealing with States where there is a
breakdown in law and order and where armed groups are operating.
Some have also
informally suggested a Protocol be developed under the Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime dealing expressly with illicit wildlife
trafficking, similar to the protocol on trafficking in persons, although this
has not gained much traction to date.
In addition,
there is a strong international focus on building the capacity of all States to
effectively enforce their international commitments at national level across
the entire enforcement chain, as this is where ‘the rubber hits the road’. This includes deploying the same sorts of
techniques to combat illicit wildlife trafficking as are used to combat
narcotic trafficking.
The role of
International and national law in combatting illegal trade in wildlife
While CITES
includes enforcement-related obligations, and many other international
agreements address such issues, law enforcement is a domestic responsibility
and current international efforts are focused on strengthening cross-border
cooperation amongst source, transit and destination States, as well as
supporting relevant bilateral, regional, and cross-regional enforcement
efforts. The benefits of this collaboration across source, transit and
destination States are now increasingly evident – such as the excellent results
achieved through Operation Cobra III, the largest ever joint enforcement
initiative undertaken earlier this year between 62 States across Asia, Africa,
Europe and North America.
Some academics
and non-governmental organizations have called for international enforcement
powers to combat illicit wildlife trafficking.33 This could only occur under
the existing international legal regime if the jurisdiction of the
International Criminal Court were expanded to cover illicit wildlife trafficking.
To do so, such
offences would, however, need to be regarded by the international community as
one of “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a
whole”, such as the crime of genocide34, and included in the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court. It is highly unlikely that such a step will be
taken, at least in the foreseeable future.
As is referred
to earlier, CITES does however have compliance processes and compliance
measures have been taken in the past where there has been a sustained failure
to enforce the Convention at the national level. The ability to take such international
compliance measures, as a last resort, is not found in many international
instruments, and it is a reason why CITES is often described as a Convention
“with teeth.”
Closing remarks
– International commitments and national action
CITES is an
international agreement that connects international commitments with national
action.
It is also a
Convention that attracts a diverse range of stakeholders and generates a lively
and passionate debate around trade, development, environment, livelihoods,
animal welfare and animal rights, with some issues falling under the mandate of
CITES and others remaining exclusively in the domain of national law.
The success of
CITES relies upon the contributions and ongoing commitment of, and
collaboration between, multiple organizations and people coming from a wide
range of disciplines and perspectives and the Convention benefits from the rich
and diverse level of interest in the Convention.
After over 40
years of being in force,35 CITES is seen as a great example of successful
international cooperation combined with national action that has evolved to
meet new challenges and will continue to do so.
As such, this
visionary Convention is as relevant today, if not more relevant, as it was in
1975 in enabling us to continue to benefit from wild plants and animals – and
now I quote from the founding text of the Convention itself – from the
“aesthetic, scientific, cultural, recreational and economic points of view.”
Thank you.
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