CITES

Also called: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species · Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 14 "Biodiversity and Conservation"

Meaning

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is a treaty that controls the international trade (trade across national borders) in wild animals and plants. It sorts species into three appendices (lists), and each list has its own trade rules. It was signed in Washington, D.C. on 3 March 1973, came into force in 1975, and India joined in 1976.

• Why it matters: when wild species are traded across borders, many die out faster than they would from local hunting alone.
• CITES is the main global tool for one step of the World Conservation Strategy (1980): "regulate the international trade in wild plants and animals".

Explanation

How it works: trade, threat and control

• The problem: wild animals and plants (and their parts) are bought and sold between countries.
• Demand from abroad leads to more hunting and collecting in the source country.

• Numbers fall, and the species moves towards extinction.

• The CITES answer: countries agree to check the trade at their borders.

• Each traded species is placed in one of three appendices.

• Trade in a listed species can cross a border only with the right permits (official papers that allow the shipment).

• The result: trade carries on only at a level the species can survive. For the most threatened species, commercial trade stops completely.

• Its limit: CITES covers only international trade. It does not control trade inside a country. That is left to each country's own laws.

The three appendices

Appendix	Level of threat	Trade rule	Example
I	Threatened with extinction	Commercial trade banned. Allowed only in exceptional cases, such as research, and needs both an export and an import permit	Tiger, Asian elephant
II	Not threatened yet, but could become threatened if trade is not controlled	Trade allowed with an export permit	Many orchids, some sharks
III	Protected in at least one country, which asks other countries for help	Trade controlled only for that country's populations	Species listed by one Party

• How to remember it: protection is strictest in Appendix I and gets lighter in II and III.
• A Party is a country that has formally joined the treaty.

Where CITES fits in the global system

• The World Conservation Strategy (1980) was prepared by IUCN, UNEP and WWF. It has six steps, and the sixth is regulating international trade in wildlife. CITES already existed (1973) and does this job.
• The CBD (1992) has a much wider aim: conservation, sustainable use and fair sharing of benefits. Its protocols (Cartagena and Nagoya) do not deal with wildlife trade. That job stays with CITES.
• Meetings: the Parties meet at a CoP (Conference of the Parties). CoP20 was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in 2025.

Where it occurs

• Where it was signed: Washington, D.C., on 3 March 1973. This date is now celebrated as World Wildlife Day.
• Latest meeting: CoP20, Samarkand, Uzbekistan (2025).
• India: became a Party in 1976.
• Indian species such as the tiger and the Asian elephant are in Appendix I, so commercial cross-border trade in them is banned.

• CITES does not cover trade inside India. That falls under India's own law, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the same law that gave the base for protected areas and Project Tiger (1973).

• Worldwide: it applies to trade between member countries. Examples are orchids and some sharks (Appendix II) that are traded across oceans and borders.

Don't confuse with

• CMS (Bonn Convention, 1979): CMS protects migratory animals and their habitats and migration routes. CITES controls trade. The Asian elephant appears in both: CITES Appendix I (trade ban) and CMS Appendix I (added at COP13, Gandhinagar, 2020) [2].
• CBD (1992): a broad treaty on conserving biodiversity, using it sustainably and sharing benefits fairly. It is not a wildlife-trade treaty. CITES (1973) is about 20 years older.
• Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols: Cartagena deals with LMOs/GMOs (biosafety). Nagoya deals with access and benefit-sharing (biopiracy). Neither one regulates trade in endangered species.
• CITES Appendix II vs Appendix I: Appendix II species are not yet threatened, and trade is allowed with an export permit. Appendix I species are threatened with extinction, and commercial trade is banned.

Prelims Hooks

• CITES was signed in Washington, D.C. on 3 March 1973, now World Wildlife Day. It came into force in 1975. India joined in 1976.
• Appendix I = threatened with extinction, commercial trade banned, export and import permits both needed for exceptional trade (for example tiger, Asian elephant).
• Appendix II = trade allowed with an export permit (for example many orchids, some sharks). Appendix III = listed by one Party that asks others for help.
• Trap: CITES regulates international trade only, not trade inside a country.
• Trap: wildlife trade is covered by CITES, not by the Cartagena or Nagoya Protocols of the CBD.
• CITES CoP20 was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (2025).

Mains Points

• Trade control needs habitat protection too (GS-III). A trade ban under Appendix I cuts demand from abroad, but species like the tiger and Asian elephant also need in situ protection (protection in their natural habitat). Examples are protected areas under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and Project Tiger (1973). CITES deals with the border. National laws and parks deal with the forest.
• A gap in the system. CITES does not cover trade inside a country, so poaching for local markets depends on how strong national laws and enforcement are. Endangered species need several treaties working together. CITES handles trade, CMS handles cross-border movement, such as the Great Indian Bustard on the India–Pakistan border [3], and the CBD/KMGBF handles habitats and the "30 by 30" target.
• It builds on NCERT's conservation logic. Regulating international trade is one of the six steps of the World Conservation Strategy (1980). Like the other steps, it works only if conservation keeps going over time and local communities take part. Without them, illegal trade simply replaces legal trade.

Related concepts

• Biodiversity conservation
• In situ conservation
• Ex situ conservation
• World Conservation Strategy
• Convention on Biological Diversity
• Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
• Nagoya Protocol
• Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
• 30 by 30 target
• Convention on Migratory Species

Read more

• Conservation strategies and the global regime: in situ, ex situ, CBD and its offspring