Implementation

A number of potential issues were identified relating to implementation of the Convention, as described below. It is important to note that discrepancies such as those described below may simply reflect errors in reporting; development of electronic permitting systems (discussed in more detail under “Further work”) could help CITES Authorities to minimise such errors. Certain discrepancies, for example in source codes, may be due to differences in interpretation of the provisions of the Convention by different Parties. It is worth highlighting that all Parties in the Region have national legislation in place that is designated as Category 1 under the National Legislation Project^[1] (defined as legislation that is believed to generally meet the requirements for implementation of CITES).

1. Discrepancies in reporting the source of trade in Iguana iguana: A notable discrepancy was identified in the reporting of the source of trade in Iguana iguana from the Region, with Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States reporting imports of wild-sourced live animals that were reported by the exporter, El Salvador, as captive-bred. The reasons for this discrepancy should be investigated further with the Parties involved.

2. Correct reporting of Appendices: Incorrect CITES Appendix listings were recorded in annual reports for Appendix I-listed species such as Chelonia mydas and Eretmochelys imbricata, and Appendix II-listed species such as Agalychnis callidryas and Cacatua alba. Parties are encouraged to check the correct listing of a species in the CITES Appendices/CITES Checklist prior to issuing permits, particularly in the case of taxa with populations listed in different Appendices. The development of a webservice/API to provide national systems with direct access to up-to-date legal information from the CITES Checklist/Species+ would help to address these types of issues (see “Futher work”).

3. Species identification: Several discrepancies were identified where it appeared that the trading partners had reported different species names for the same transaction, in particular for transactions involving orchids and euphorbias. A review of the existing identification material available to Parties would help to highlight taxonomic groups for which more guidance on identification might be useful.

Reporting

A number of issues were identified that relate to the quality and completeness of data recorded by Parties in their annual reports to CITES. The Guidelines for the preparation and submission of CITES annual reports^[1] specifies the information that Parties should include in their reports. As has been highlighted in previous analyses^[2], these data provide the basis for monitoring the implementation of the Convention and support key decision making, including the making of non-detriment findings. Accurate reporting is therefore key to the success of the Convention in ensuring that international trade in wildlife is sustainable.

4. Timely submission of reports: CITES Parties are encouraged to submit their annual reports by the 31 October deadline. At the time of writing (February 2014), three annual reports had not yet been received for 2012.

5. Basis of reporting: Annual reports should, whenever possible, be compiled on the basis of actual trade rather than on the basis of permits and certificates issued in order to avoid overestimation of trade volumes. The basis of reporting should be specified in the annual report. Four Parties in the Region consistently did not specify the basis on which their annual reports were compiled over the period 2003-2012.

6. Completeness of information included in reports: Details of the specimen description (term), trading partner, source and purpose of trade transactions provide important information for monitoring trade. However, several annual reports submitted by Parties in the Region either did not include full shipment details or included inadequate descriptions of commodities in trade, such as “plantas” (for various plant species) and “caracol gigante” (for Strombus gigas). Parties are encouraged to provide complete details for each shipment as specified within the Guidelines, preferably using the standard codes provided.

7. Term and unit combinations: Whenever possible, the preferred term and unit combinations included in the Guidelines should be used on permits and within annual reports. This standardises the data and allows for more meaningful analyses of trade. Inappropriate term and unit combinations reported by Parties in the Region most frequently included meat reported without units and skins reported by weight.

8. Thousand and decimal separators: The use of thousand separators in the quantity field in annual reports should be avoided, and use of either a comma or a point as a decimal separator should be consistent, to ensure that quantities are interpreted accurately.

9. Accepted nomenclature: Accepted scientific names for species should be used in annual reports, as opposed to synonyms or common names. Examples of synonyms recorded in annual reports submitted by Parties in the Region include Herpailurus yagouaroundi and Felis yagouaroundi (synonyms of Puma yagouaroundi). Trade recorded on permits under a synonym may lead to trade being permitted when there are quotas or suspensions in place for the species. The development of a webservice/API to provide national systems with direct access to up-to-date nomenclature information from the CITES Checklist/Species+ would help to address these types of issues (see “Further work”).

Further work

The following areas were identified for potential further work, to contribute to improving implementation of the Convention and enhancing knowledge of the biological and economic impacts of trade in CITES-listed species.

10. New technologies: As highlighted in the report CITES at 40: Perspectives, trade patterns and future prospects^[1] and at the Workshop on Capacity Building on New Information Technologies and Electronic Permitting for Central America and Dominican Republic, various new information and communication technologies are emerging that have the potential to provide radical improvements in monitoring levels of trade. One example is the development of electronic permitting systems, which have the potential to enable the monitoring of trade transactions in near-real time. Parties in the Region may wish to consider following up on the recommendations from the abovementioned workshop, including the development of future phases of the EPIX system.

The development of the Species+ portal and the database-driven CITES Checklist have provided CITES Authorities with easy access to up-to-date nomenclature, legal and other information on CITES-listed species. Parties may wish to consider the development of a webservice or Automated Programming Interface (API) to facilitate the automatic transfer of this information from the CITES Checklist/Species+ directly to national systems.

11. The value of trade in CITES-listed species: Further work is needed to better understand the economic value of international wildlife trade to the Region. A more accurate estimate of this value would strengthen the case for sustainable species use by making the contributions to national economies and livelihoods more explicit. In this context, a refined methodology could be applied to price data that are species-specific and take into account source and origin country, with the aim of assessing value at different points in the trade chain. It is recommended that Parties make available existing price datasets for species in trade; if such datasets are lacking, a systematic analysis of online price data may be needed to obtain a more accurate picture of the value of CITES trade.

12. High volumes of wild-sourced trade for commercial purposes: Two species identified as showing noteworthy trends in wild-sourced trade, Strombus gigas and Cedrela odorata, were selected on the basis of a high volume of wild-sourced trade that was primarily for commercial purposes. In addition, Swietenia macrophylla was selected on the basis of a high volume of wild-sourced trade of which the majority was reported without a purpose specified, but is likely to be for commercial purposes based on data reported by trading partners. Both Strombus gigas and Swietenia macrophylla have previously been included in the CITES Review of Significant Trade process. The impact of trade in these species on wild populations should continue to be monitored by the countries concerned to ensure that harvest is sustainable. The need to develop and implement comprehensive management plans for commonly traded species was highlighted in a previous report focusing on CITES implementation in the Region^[2].

13. Trends in highly traded species: Several of the top species in trade from the Region, in particular Iguana iguana, Strombus gigas and Swietenia macrophylla, showed a gradual decrease in trade over time. Further investigation of the underlying causes of these trends, taking into account previous work such as relevant species reviews as part of the Review of Significant Trade process, may be useful in informing future management of these species.

14. Potentially under-utilised species: The analysis identified a number of species native to the Region that are exported in high volumes from countries outside the Region as either captive-bred or artificially propagated specimens. Furthermore, many species traded at high levels from the Region are not exported by all countries in the Region to which they are native. Sustainable use of such species that are potentially under-utilised has the potential to provide economic benefits and may in turn have a positive impact on the species concerned in terms of creating incentives for improved management.

15. National trade analyses: Parties in the Region are encouraged to conduct their own analyses of CITES trade at the national level on a regular basis, to inform species management and the making of non-detriment findings. The need to improve the scientific basis for the making of non-detriment findings, including regular monitoring of trade levels, was highlighted in a previous report^[2] and at the regional non-detriment finding workshop held in El Salvador in September 2013.

16. Impact of non-wild trade on wild populations: The analysis highlighted that the majority of CITES trade from the Region is captive-bred and artificially propagated; as noted in a previous study^[3], while trade from these sources may reduce pressure on wild populations, it may also remove incentives for local communities to manage wild populations sustainably. The impact that captive production of native species has had on wild populations, as well as on revenues and how these are distributed, could be investigated further. Countries in the Region are encouraged to share their experiences of the transition to captive production, for the benefit of other Parties.