CITES Recommends Suspension in Trade of Listed Species

Geneva (Switzerland) – March 20, 2015 – The CITES Standing Committee has recommended today that all Parties suspend commercial trade in CITES-listed species with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Nigeria, as these countries have not yet been submitted their National Ivory Action Plans (NIAPs). Next week Botswana will be hosting two major wildlife conferences: the African Elephant Summit on March 23 and the Kasane Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade.

http://cites.org/sites/default/files/notif/E-Notif-2015-014.pdf
http://cites.org/sites/default/files/notif/E-Notif-2015-013.pdf
http://cites.org/sites/default/files/notif/E-Notif-2015-012.pdf

For more information see: http://www.mewt.gov.bw/news_events.php?id=102

CITES National Ivory Action Plans (NIAPs)

CITES has identified 22 countries that are most heavily implicated in the illegal trade in ivory. These are categorized as countries of ‘primary concern’ (eight Parties), ‘secondary concern’ (eight Parties) and ‘importance to watch’ (six Parties).

National ivory action plans (NIAPs) are the tool used by CITES in 19 of these 22 countries to strengthen their controls of the trade in ivory and ivory markets, and help combat the illegal trade in ivory. Each plan outlines the urgent measures that a CITES Party commits to deliver – including legislative, enforcement and public awareness actions as required – along with specified timeframes and milestones for implementation.

The full list of countries concerned and detailed information about the NIAP process is available at http://cites.org/eng/niaps.

Juan Carlos Vasquez
Communication and outreach officer
CITES Secretariat – UNEP – United Nations
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1219 Chatelaine, Geneva, Switzerland
tel (+4122) 917 8156 (direct)
Mobile: (+4179) 552 2732
Skype: visionofjaguar
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email: juan.vasquez@cites.org