CITES
1. Introduction:
- CITES-Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna & Flora.
- Elephants' remains are one of India's most powerful cultural & religious symbols.
- A pioneer in banning even the domestic trade in ivory in 1986, India was at forefront of global elephant conservation initiatives.
- India surprised many at the conference of CITES by voting against the proposal of re-opening the international trade in ivory.
- The proposal to allow a regular form of controlled trade in ivory from Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabve was defeated 83-15 in Panama City.
2. CITES Agreement:
- CITES is an international agreement among 184 countries' governments to ensure that international trade in wild animals and plants do not threaten the survival of the species.
- The convention entered into force in 1975 & India became the 25th party-a state that voluntarily agrees to be bound by the Convention.
- All import, export & re-export of species covered under CITES must be authorised through a permit system.
- CITES Appendix-1 lists species threatened with extinction, import or export permits for these are issued rarely & only if the purpose is not primarily commercial.
- CITES Appendix-2 includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction but in which trade must be strictly regulated.
| The Conference of the Parties (CoP), every two years, the supreme decision-making body of CITES, applies a set of biological & trade criteria to evaluate proposals from parties to decide if a species should be in Appendix-1, 2. |
3. Tussle Over Ivory:
- The international ivory trade was globally banned in 1989 when all African elephant populations were put in CITES Appendix-1.
- The populations of Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe were transferred to Appendix 2 in 1997, and South Africa's in 2000 to allow two 'one-off sales' in 1999 & 2008 of ivory stockpiled from natural elephant deaths & seizures from poachers.
- Namibia's proposal for allowing a regular form of controlled trade in ivory by delisting the elephant populations of 4 countries from Appendix 2 was rejected at CoP-17(2016), and CoP-18(2019).
- At the ongoing CoP-19, the proposal was moved by Zimbabwe but met the same fate.
- The 4 African countries argue that their elephant populations have bounced back & their stockpiled ivory if sold internationally, can generate much-needed revenue for elephant conservation.
- Opponents of the ivory trade counter that any form of supply stokes demand & that sharp spikes in elephant poaching were recorded across the globe after the one-off sales allowed by the CITES in 1999, and 2008.
4. India-Ivory Trade:
- The endangered Asian elephant was included in CITES Appendix-1 in 1975, which banned the export of ivory from Asian range countries.
- In 1986, India amended The Wildlife Protection Act, of 1972 to ban even domestic sales of ivory.
- After the ivory trade was globally banned, India again amended the law to ban the import of African ivory in 1991.
- In 1981 when New Delhi hosted CoP3, India designed the iconic CITES logo in the form of an elephant.
5. Important Conference of Parties (CoP)
5.1.1992-CoP8:
In Kyoto, Japan, Indian delegate Arin Ghosh, then director of the project tiger, noted a polarisation of parties. One for sustainable use & trade in wildlife, the other favouring total ban & stricter control, with the latter, fortunately, outnumbering the former.
5.2.1994-CoP9:
At Lauderdale, US, India opposed the down-listing of the elephant population of South Africa from Appendix 1 to 2.
5.3.1997-CoP10:
At Harare, Zimbabwe, India opposed the proposal to down-list the southern African elephant populations, expressing "Concern over, repercussion for Asian Elephant, particularly about poaching."
5.4.2000-CoP11:
At Gigiri, Kenya, India moved a proposal along with the host country to uplist all elephant populations in Appendix 2 to 1.
At CoP17, 18, India voted against a proposal to re-open trade in ivory from the southern African states.
| In Johannesburg, South Africa, India expressed its willingness to share its experiences of protecting elephants & supporting rural development without recourse to trade in ivory. |
6. Changes:
- After protracted negotiation, India signed an agreement with Namibia to fly in Cheetahs.
- India agreed to promote sustainable utilisation & management of biodiversity by supporting advances in this area of bilateral cooperation at international forums including meetings of CITES.
- Namibia sought India's support under this agreement for the longstanding proposal to re-open the ivory trade at CITES.
- Indian Government has not received any written communication from the Republic of Namibia regarding the lifting of the ban on the ivory trade.
- Though the agreement signed between the Government of the Republic of Namibia & Government of the Republic of India includes wildlife conservation & sustainable biodiversity utilization as one of the areas of cooperation, this cannot be construed as support for lifting the ban on trade in endangered species.
7. Epilogue:
When the proposal on the ivory trade was put to vote at CoP19, India chose to abstain & not vote against it.
Source:indianexpress
