Since 1992, CITES has been implementing a national legislation project, under Resolution Conf. 8.4 and related decisions of the Conference of the Parties. This project analyzes national laws and assist States with developing effective legislation that adequately implements CITES. In analysing a national law, the Secretariat considers whether and how the law: designates the responsible authorities, prohibits trade in violation of the Convention, penalises such illegal trade, and provides for confiscation of specimens that were illegally traded or possessed. Based on this analysis, the Secretariat categorizes the legislation as being:
- Category 1 (meets all the requirements for implementing CITES)
- Category 2 (meets some, but not all, of the requirements for implementing CITES)
- Category 3 (does not meet any of the requirements for implementing CITES)
If a State’s legislation does not meet all of the requirements to implement CITES, the Secretariat can work with the State to develop a legislation plan to bring about compliance.
There are incentives for countries to revise their legislation or develop new legislation to implement CITES fully. In addition to shame (and the desire to be a Party in good standing), a State with inadequate legislation and which does not make good progress to strengthen that legislation could be subject to a Standing Committee recommendation to suspend trade.
The CITES Secretariat also assists countries developing or revising implementing legislation. Upon request, the Secretariat frequently reviews and comments on draft legislation. The Secretariat provides examples of legislation from other countries, has developed a legislative guidance package (containing a model law, legislative checklist, and format for legislative analysis), and convenes regional and national workshops on drafting CITES-implementing legislation. The Secretariat also sends staff or consultants to countries to assist the countries in developing legislation. And, the Secretariat also has various bilateral and multilateral legislative projects.
For more information, see http://www.cites.org/ or contact cites@unep.ch