Conf. 12.9

Personal and household effects

CONSIDERING that Article VII, paragraph 3, of the Convention lays down the conditions under which specimens that are personal or household effects are exempt from the provisions of Articles III, IV and V;

FURTHER CONSIDERING that the Convention does not define the term ‘personal or household effects’;

CONSIDERING that the exemption in Article VII, paragraph 3, of the Convention does not apply to specimens of Appendix-I species that are souvenirs being imported by a person returning to his State of usual residence;

CONSIDERING further that the exemption in Article VII, paragraph 3, of the Convention does not apply to specimens of Appendix-II species that are souvenirs being imported by a person returning to his State of usual residence if the specimens were taken from the wild in a State requiring the granting of export permits before the export of such specimens;

RECALLING that the Convention does not make special provision for airport lounges (including duty-free shops), free ports or non-Customs zones, because each Party is deemed to have sovereignty over the whole of its territory, and to apply the Convention accordingly;

NOTING that Resolution Conf. 10.6, adopted at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Harare, 1997), addresses trade in tourist souvenirs in isolation from personal or household effects despite the clear relationship between the two concepts;

RECOGNIZING that Parties currently implement Article VII, paragraph 3, of the Convention and Resolution Conf. 10.6 in varying ways and that there should be uniform application of the exemption for personal or household effects;

THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION

DECIDES that the term ‘personal or household effects’ contained in Article VII, paragraph 3, of the Convention means specimens that are:

a) personally owned or possessed for non-commercial purposes;

b) legally-acquired; and

c) at the time of import, export or re-export either:

i) worn or carried or included in personal baggage; or

ii) part of a household move;

RECOMMENDS that Parties:

a) regulate the cross-border movements of legally acquired, personally owned live animals of species listed in the Appendices of CITES in accordance with Resolution Conf. 10.20;

b) not require export or import permits, or re-export certificates, for personal or household effects for the following dead specimens, parts and derivatives of Appendix-II species except where the quantity exceeds the specified limits:

i) caviar of sturgeon species (Acipenseriformes spp.) – up to a maximum of 250 grams per person;

ii) rainsticks of Cactaceae spp. – up to three per person;

iii) specimens of crocodilian species – up to four specimens per person; and

iv) queen conch (Strombus gigas) shells – up to three specimens per person;

c) advise their Customs administrations of the treatment of personal or household effects under CITES;

d) take all necessary steps, including inspection and provision of information to merchants, to prohibit the sale of tourist souvenir specimens of Appendix-I species in places of international departure, such as international airports, seaports and border crossings and particularly in duty-free areas beyond Customs control points;

e) provide information through displays and by other means, in all relevant languages, in places of international departure and arrival, informing travellers about the purpose and requirements of the Convention, and of their responsibilities with respect to international and domestic laws relating to the export and import of wildlife specimens; and

f) in collaboration with national and international tourist agencies, carriers, hotels and other relevant bodies, take all possible steps to ensure that tourists and persons with diplomatic privileges travelling abroad are made aware of the import and export controls that are or may be in force with respect to items derived from CITES species;

REQUESTS the Secretariat to develop a process for consideration of specimens of personal and household effects of Appendix-II species which may be exempted from permitting according to Article VII, paragraph 3, of the Convention; and

ENCOURAGES Parties to harmonize their national legislation with regard to this Resolution.