23 August 2016: The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) presented its recommendations on the proposals to amend the Appendices of the Convention. Parties will draw upon these evaluations and recommendations to draft their decisions for the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17). The CITES Secretariat has also commented on the 45 documents submitted by Parties ahead of CoP17.

The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices, according to the degree of protection they need. Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances. Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.

Among its recommendations, the Secretariat suggests that the proposal to transfer the African lion to Appendix I be rejected. It also recommends that the proposal to include all populations of African elephant in Appendix I through the transfer from Appendix II to Appendix I of the populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, be rejected. It further recommends to reject the proposal to alter the existing annotation on the Appendix II listing of Swaziland’s white rhino so as to permit a limited and regulated trade in white rhino horn collected in the past from natural deaths, or recovered from poached Swazi rhino, as well as horn to be harvested in a non lethal way from a limited number of white rhino in the future in Swaziland.

The Secretariat supports that all pangolin species proposed for listing to Appendix I be transferred thereto. Finally, it recommends to reject the proposal to transfer the African grey parrot from Appendix II to Appendix I.

CoP17 will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 24 September to 5 October 2016. [CITES Press Release] [Official List of Proposals and Recommendations by the CITES Secretariat for Amendment of the Appendices I and II] [CITES CoP17 Website]