18 December 2014: The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) issued a statement on the alleged trade in live African elephants from Zimbabwe to China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Secretariat explained the application of CITES to this trade in response to recent media articles. It also clarified that it does not issue CITES permits or certificates and has no authority to directly intervene in any trade transactions.

The population of the African elephant of Zimbabwe is included in Appendix II of CITES, and an annotation to the listing allows for “trade in live animals to appropriate and acceptable destinations.” As a result, international commercial and non-commercial trade in certain specimens of African elephants from Zimbabwe (including live animals) can occur provided certain provisions set forth in the Convention are applied.

In addition to those provisions, the CITES Management Authority of Zimbabwe is bound to grant a permit to export live elephants only when it is satisfied that they were obtained in accordance with national law; the CITES Scientific Authority of Zimbabwe has advised that the export will not be detrimental to the survival of the species; and the CITES Management Authority of Zimbabwe is satisfied that any living specimen will be so prepared and shipped as to minimize the risk of injury, damage to health or cruel treatment.

The Secretariat has communicated with the CITES Management Authorities of China, the UAE and Zimbabwe to determine the circumstances of the reported trade in live elephants. The CITES Management Authority of China has advised that it has not received any application to import elephants from Zimbabwe, while the CITES Management Authorities of the UAE and Zimbabwe have advised that they have authorized the export from Zimbabwe to the UAE of seven elephants as a family group that has been in captivity in Zimbabwe for more than 10 years. [CITES News]