Regulatory Tools for the Management of Fish and Timber Species through CITES

• Date: 01 November 2013
• Author: Soledad Aguilar
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12043
• Published date: 01 November 2013

Regulatory Tools for the Management of Fish

and Timber Species through CITES

Soledad Aguilar

This article addresses the growing body of work

within the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

on the management of commercially valuable timber

and fish species. The article reviews the types of regu-

latory tools CITES has adopted to manage fish and

timber species subject to high levels of commercial

international trade. Tools identified are described

through examples from the CITES acquis, and assessed

according to two criteria: their normative content to

determine the strength of the tool within the CITES

regulatory context; and their proactive potential to

determine whether the tool is mainly used to achieve

the Convention’s traditional supportive role towards

national management authorities, or for a more

modern role as a generator and driving force for sus-

tainable management decisions.

INTRODUCTION

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has a set of

regulatory tools for the management of wildlife in com-

mercial international trade, such as fish and timber

species, that merit examination as they not only

support existing efforts to manage species sustainably,1

but also spearhead or ‘pull’ authorities to adopt new

and more effective sustainable management measures.2

These tools are often overlooked by studies focusing

solely on the Convention’s role in the conservation of

species that are severely endangered and, as a result,

are removed from international trade for commercial

purposes.

This article reviews the types of regulatory tools that are

available to CITES parties for the management of

species, and identifies new tools that derive from deci-

sions of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to CITES,

specifically focusing on the tools developed for the

management of commercially valuable fish and timber

species listed in Appendix II of the Convention. The

article does not attempt to provide a comprehensive

assessment of all available regulatory tools, but seeks to

provide a qualitative illustration of the normative work

undertaken within CITES to support the management

of commercially valuable species in Appendix II. The

identification of tools is based on CITES official docu-

ments, including those presented during the meetings

of the CITES CoPs from 1994 to 2013, looking in par-

ticular at presentations for listing fish and timber

species in Appendix II, as well as follow-up recommen-

dations on these species.

The tools identified include: (i) tools that are applicable

to all CITES species, such as export permits, limiting

the scope of listings in the Appendices, trade sanctions

and international action plans; (ii) tools generally

applicable to Appendix II species related to the deter-

mination of sustainable levels of trade, such as non-

detriment findings, reviews of significant trade and

quotas; (iii) information tools, such as labelling and

traceability tools, trade databases and identification

manuals; and (iv) tools developed to support the work

of regional management organizations. For each tool,

an effort will be made to determine the normative force

of the tool to determine its relative strength within the

CITES toolbox, as well its proactive potential to

examine whether the tool works as a means to comple-

ment and support national authorities, or whether it

may also be used to ‘pull’ or spearhead new sustainable

species management measures.

REGULATORY TOOLS FOR

SPECIES MANAGEMENT

In the four decades since its entry into force, parties to

CITES have developed a set of tools to support coun-

tries’ efforts to implement their binding obligations

regarding species listed by their scientific names in the

Convention’s three Appendices.3Appendix I contains

a list of those species and populations that cannot

1T. Mulliken, The Role of CITES in Controlling the International Trade

in Forest Products: Implications for Sustainable Forest Management

(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),

2009); A. Vincent, Y. Sadovy de Mitcheson, S. Fowler and S.

Lieberman, ‘The Role of CITES in the Conservation of Marine

Fishes Subject to International Trade’, Fish and Fisheries (2013,

forthcoming).

2Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora (Washington, DC, 3 March 1973; in force 1 July

1975) (‘CITES’). 3CITES, n. 2 above, Articles III, IV and V.

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Review of European Community & International Environmental Law

RECIEL 22 (3) 2013. ISSN 2050-0386

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