Reference lists

Countries currently subject to a recommendation to suspend trade

As CITES uses trade measures for its implementation, one recommendation for improving the effectiveness of the Convention is a temporary suspension of trade. Recommendations to suspend trade in specimens of CITES-listed species are made by the Conference of the Parties and the Standing Committee. A recommendation to suspend trade provides a period of time during which the relevant country can move from non-compliance to compliance by inter alia making progress in the enactment of adequate legislation, combating and reducing illegal trade, submitting missing annual reports or responding to specific recommendations of the Standing Committee concerning the implementation of Article IV of the Convention in the context of the Review of Significant Trade. Recommendations to suspend trade are withdrawn immediately upon a country’s return to compliance.

At the request of CITES Parties and to assist implementation of the Convention, the Secretariat has developed a table of recommendations to suspend trade that are currently in force. The table shows the countries affected by the recommendation, the Notification to the Parties containing the recommendation, the basis for the recommendation and scope of trade involved in the recommendation. Where appropriate, explanatory comments are provided.

Certificates of ownership

Resolution Conf. 10.20 (Frequent cross-border movements of personally owned live animals) allows for the issuance of a certificate of ownership to the personal owner of a legally acquired live animal who wishes to travel to other States with the animal as a personal or household effect.

Click here to see the table that summarizes the information communicated by Parties to indicate whether they accept such certificates.

Trade in sturgeons and paddlefish

The Secretariat has compiled the following register based on the information provided by Parties in accordance with Resolution Conf. 12.7 (Rev. CoP14) (Conservation of and trade in sturgeons and paddlefish), paragraphs a) and b) under RECOMMENDS:

• Register of licensed legal exporters, processing and repackaging plants for specimens of sturgeon and paddlefish species (last updated 23/01/2008).

Personal and household effects

The table below summarizes the information communicated by Parties, in response to Notifications to the Parties No. 2005/016 of 22 March 2005 and No. 2006/041 of 28 June 2006, to indicate whether export permits are needed for the movement of personal effects of Appendix-II species.

Country		National legislation
China	Mainland	No exemption exists. An export permit is still required for the movement of personal effects of Appendix-II species
	Hong Kong Special Administration Region	An exemption exists for specimens that are personal or household effects, under the circumstances prescribed in Resolution Conf. 13.7 (Rev. CoP14)
	Macao Special Administrative Region	An exemption exists for specimens that are personal or household effects, under the circumstances prescribed under Article VII, paragraph 3, of the Convention
European Union (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)		Control of trade in personal and household effects with the European Union
Indonesia
Japan		No exemption, other than caviar of sturgeon species (Acipenseriformes spp.) exists. An export permit is still required for the movement of personal effects of Appendix-II species.
United States of America		(see the full CITES regulations)

Further information can be found in Resolution Conf. 13.7 (Rev. CoP14) (Control of trade in personal and household effects), in particular on the limits that the Conference of the Parties has established on the number of specimens of certain CITES-listed species that may be considered as personal effects.

Regional assistance in the CITES Secretariat

The CITES Secretariat has organized its work so as to provide assistance to the Parties on a regional basis. For each of the six CITES regions (Africa, Asia, Central and South America and the Caribbean, Europe, North America and Oceania), a member of staff has been designated as the principal officer responsible for providing assistance. Additional staff members have been designated to assist regions that have a greater number of Parties. Click on the following link to view the list of the regional assistants of the Secretariat and their responsibilities.

The alphabetical list of countries and territories of the world indicates the CITES region to which each country or territory has been affiliated and its designated regional assistant in the Secretariat. The Secretariat has suggested allocations of territories and various islands on the basis of their geographical locations, however those Parties for which territories are listed separately and that would prefer to have these territories allocated to the same regional assistant as themselves are invited to contact the Secretariat.

Fossil corals

This section provides a list of Parties' interpretations of the annotation exempting fossil corals from the provisions of the Convention received in response to Notification to the Parties No. 2006/063 of 14 November 2006.