CITES World · of CITES World focuses on a number of current, new or upcoming implementation tools that all have a common purpose: to make CITES work in the real world. These include

CITES WorldOfficial Newsletter of the Parties

Convention on international Trade

in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

Issue Number 12 – December 2003

CITES in the real world

CITES is implemented by ManagementAuthorities, which process permit applications andissue documents, Scientific Authorities, whichconsider scientific aspects for species in trade,Customs authorities, which inspect shipments andaccept or reject documents, other enforcementauthorities that become involved in cases of illegaltrade, and the judiciary who assign penalties in suchcases.

For all persons involved in implementing CITES,the Convention is a difficult task. With its ever-expanding Resolutions and growing Appendices(currently covering over 30,000 species of animalsand plants), to say nothing of the myriad domesticlaws needed to implement it, the Convention isenormously complex and challenging.

The identification of species is a case in point.Non-specialists are often expected to know everyspecies listed in a permit application or CITESdocument. Being able to identify specimens correctlyis essential for verifying the validity of documentsand detecting fraud. Yet the knowledge necessary to

identify species in the form they are traded in is noteasy to acquire. And access to specialists is not alwaysthe answer. Orchids have spectacular flowers to aidwith identification, yet most orchid plants in trade

will not be flowering. An ornithologist identifying abird in the field has much additional information torely on, such as habitat, behaviour, and the knownranges of species, but identifying a bird that may beone of a hundred birds in a crate, with damaged orsoiled plumage, from an unknown source, is quiteanother matter.

Thankfully, many Parties, institutions, inter-governmental agencies and non-governmental

organizations, and the CITES Secretariat have createdtools to make implementation of the Conventioneasier for the CITES community. This 12th editionof CITES World focuses on a number of current, newor upcoming implementation tools that all have acommon purpose: to make CITES work in the realworld. These include species identification resourcesand guides, national implementation manuals,training materials, and other useful publications andtools.

The Secretariat is particularly pleased toannounce in this issue the availability of an interactivecomputer-based training course developed forCustoms officers, designed in partnership with the

Canada Customs and Revenue Agency andEnvironment Canada. This instructive course willprovide to any Customs officer interested in CITESthe opportunity to learn about the Convention andthe important role they perform in it.

The Editor

INSIDE

From the Editor – CITES in the real world

CITES training tools

CITES resources

Species identification guides

From the Secretary-General

AwardsLearning how to identify CITES specimens

at a CITES training workshop

(Oslo, 31 March - 4 April 2002)

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World – Official Newsletter of the Parties Issue 12

2

An introduction to CITES forCustoms and other border

control officers

In 2000 the Canadian Customs and RevenueAgency (CCRA) published an e-learning CD-ROMexplaining the procedures for the control of CITESshipments entering or leaving Canada. Theinstructions in this programme were based on nationalprocedures and the Wild Animal and Plant Protectionand Regulation of International and InterprovincialTrade Act (WAPPRIITA), the legislative structureby which Canada meets its obligations under CITES.

Towards the end of 2002, the Secretariat enteredinto an agreement with Environment Canada(Canadian Wildlife Service), the Canadian

Management Authority, and CCRA to adapt thisinnovative e-learning programme to a non country-specific audience, in English, French and Spanish.As it turned out, making the CD-ROM suitable to allParties took much more time than expected. TheSecretariat is therefore very grateful to theEnforcement Branch of the Canadian WildlifeService for its great help in the preparation of thisCD-ROM, thereby ensuring that it will be availablefor distribution by the end of 2003.

The CD-ROM is designed asan introduction course to CITES,and will be particularly useful toCustoms officers involved in

processing CITES specimens andCITES documentation as well as

personnel from other governmental departmentsinvolved in the importation and exportation ofCITES specimens, such as Ministries dealing withfisheries, agriculture, plant or animal healthinspection, and International authorities such as theWorld Customs Organization and Interpol.

The course takes approximately three hours tocomplete. When the user is unable to complete thecourse in one sitting, a ‘bookmark’ will automaticallybe created at whatever point has been reached. Thiswill allow the user to start a new session where he/she had stopped. Several persons can use the sameprogramme (though not simultaneously) if each one

chooses a different ‘username’ and ‘password’.

Having completed the course, the user will knowmore about what CITES is, how CITES operates,how to recognize CITES specimens, what the mostcommon types of contraventions linked to CITES

are, how to verify and validate documentation, how

to process CITES specimens, and when to referCITES specimens to other agencies. Useful links arealso provided to other websites. A special Secretariate-mail address is provided in case the user hasquestions on certain aspects of the course.

The Secretariat will provide two copies of theCD-ROM to each Management Authority, who arewelcome to make additional copies for internal use.Additional copies can also be obtained from theCITES Secretariat.


3

Upcoming WCO E-learningcourse on CITES

The World Customs Orga-nization (WCO) is planning tolaunch an on-line training courseon Customs and CITES controlsin June 2004. This course, part ofthe WCO’s e-learning programme,will be made widely availableamong Customs administrations and, under someconditions, to partners and the general public.

The mission of the WCO is to improve theoperation of Customs services among its 162 membercountries. One of the WCO’s tasks is to maximizethe potential of Customs staff through a dynamictraining and technical assistance policy. The primary

objectives of the WCO e-learning programme are todevelop and improve the quality of training offeredto members. The WCO e-learning project is aimedprimarily at Customs officers from memberadministrations, but also offers training on certainCustoms topics to its partner institutions or thegeneral public. This new teaching tool will enablethe WCO to offer trainees the same high standard oftraining regardless of their geographical location.Compared with training requiring the presence ofthe student, e-learning makes it possible to reach agreater number of students, whilst providingindividually tailored and supervized trainingprogrammes at a fraction of the cost.

All the modules will be available in theWCO’s two official languages (English andFrench). Additional information on the WCOe-learning programme can be obtained from thee-learning Web page («e-learning zone») onhttp://www.wcoomd.org.

CITES training package

The Secretariat has justcompleted an update to itstraining package, available onCD-ROM. The trainingpackage has been compiledfor the Parties to CITES andothers who are interested inthe implementation of the

Convention. Published in the three working languages

of the Convention (English, French and Spanish), itcomprises a comprehensive series of 16 CITEStraining presentations in PowerPoint format, as wellas the text of the Convention, Appendices I, II andIII, and the standard CITES export/import permit –re-export certificate. The training presentationsinclude an introductory section and presentations ondefinitions; roles of CITES Authorities; role andfunction of the Scientific Authority; permits andcertificates; special procedures; using theAppendices; reading the Appendices; science, non-detriment findings and data; role of quotas in CITES;trade with non-Parties; permit management systems;filling in permit forms; reservations; plants; anddifferences between wild-collected and artificiallypropagated plants.

Copies of the CD-ROM are available upon requestto the CITES Secretariat.

The Secretariat encourages the translation of thesematerials into other languages. The basic trainingpackage is also available upon request in Arabic andMacedonian (Cyrillic alphabet).


4

CITES Handbook

The CITES Handbook has been compiled to provide to the Parties to CITESand the wider CITES community the most essential texts for the implementationof the Convention in one single reference publication. Published in the three

working languages of the Convention (English, French and Spanish), it comprisesthe text of the Convention, Appendices I, II and III, the standard CITES export/import permit – re-export certificate, the Resolutions and the Decisions ofthe Conference of the Parties to CITES in effect after the 12th meeting(Santiago, 2002). It can be purchased through the CITES website.

Checklist of CITES Species

The Checklist of CITES Species provides the official alphabetical list ofCITES species, their scientific synonyms, their common names in English,

French and Spanish (to the extent that these were available to the compilers)and an indication of the Appendix in which they are listed. The publication,compiled by UNEP-WCMC, includes a CD-ROM that contains in PDFformat all of the information above as well as the Annotated CITESAppendices and reservations. The latter provides the original listing date ofall taxa (orders, families, genera, species, subspecies) and populationsspecifically named in the current or past Appendices. It also indicates allreservations ever made by Parties, with the dates on which they enteredinto force and, in the case of past reservations, the dates on which they werewithdrawn. This book should be particularly useful to CITES Managementand Scientific Authorities, Customs officials and all others involved inimplementing and enforcing the Convention. The Checklist can be obtai-ned from the Publications Services Unit of IUCN (e-mail:[email protected]) or downloaded in PDF format free of charge fromthe CITES website.

Operations manuals

Anyone tasked with implementing the Convention needs information at their fingertips. The CITES Handbook isan essential reference publication that contains the text of the Convention, Appendices I, II and III, the standardpermit/certificate, the Resolutions and the Decisions of the Conference of the Parties. The Checklist of CITES Speciesprovides an alphabetical listing of the contents of the Appendices. But while these provide essential tools to implementthe Convention, they do not provide all of the practical information a government official will need to do his or herjob. Is it the correct form? How does my national legislation treat this species? Whom should I contact if I believethere may be a problem?

Several Parties have developed their own ‘operations manual’ to fill this need and provide practical support to

their officers. One excellent example is the operations manual developed by the Direzione per la Conservazione dellaNatura and the Corpo Forestale dello Stato (Management Authorities for Italy), and the Agenzia delle Dogane (ItalianCustoms). Included in a sturdy ring binder is a listing of applicable legislation, definitions and abbreviations; adescription of administrative procedures for import, export and re-export, control of CITES documents and


5

Slovenian Guide for the implementation of CITES

All governments should provide their officers with information onCITES, and some Governments have produced excellent operations manualsthat describe national procedures and provide essential working references(see Operations manuals on the previous page). The Government of Sloveniahas taken this approach one step further, by producing for its officials acomprehensive and richly illustrated guide to CITES and CITES im-plementation, in Slovenian (with some sections also provided in English),that incorporates a review of international wildlife trade and an analysis ofCITES trade in Slovenia. The main subjects covered include the international

wildlife trade; an introduction to CITES; CITES and the European Union;Slovenia and CITES; analysis of CITES trade in Slovenia; inspection(Customs and veterinary controls); Interpol and international policecooperation; and zoonoses and non-native species. This provides officersin charge of implementing CITES with a wealth of background informationthat can help them get a national and international perspective of theirwork. Copies of the guide may be obtained from the Management Authorityof Slovenia.

verification of shipments; procedures for personal and household effects;

procedures in the case of violations; and disposal of confiscated specimens. Themanual also contains a section listing the contact details of all offices involved inCITES matters, a listing of CITES Parties (with dates of entry into force of theConvention), a listing of non-Parties that have informed the CITES Secretariat ofthe Authority competent to issue comparable documentation, a listing of Partiesusing security stamps, the contact details of the Italian Scientific Authority, alisting of experts able to identify specimens, a listing of the countries using ATA/TIR carnets, and a listing of Parties using phytosanitary certificates in lieu ofexport permits. Finally, the manual includes facsimile copies of all forms anddocuments used to process CITES trade in Italy. The ring binder format allowsfor an easy updating of the contents, and all pages are printed on heavy paperto withstand frequent use. The Italian operations manual is also available onCD-ROM.


6

Website for traders and travellers on EU

wildlife trade regulations

One of the ways to facilitate the implementation of CITES is to try tosolve problems before they occur. Processing permit applications is made

much easier when the applicant is well prepared and well informed. To achieve this, TRAFFIC Europe, withsupport from the European Commission and with the participation of the Management Authorities of the 15 EUMember States, has launched a website especially designed for wildlife traders in the European Union. This website,at www.eu-wildlifetrade.org, aims to provide user-friendly information on EU wildlife trade regulations for CITESin the 11 official EU languages. It gives a comprehensive overview and explanation of the EU wildlife traderegulations; procedures for obtaining CITES permits and certificates; lists of species subject to provisions; importrestrictions; marking and labelling requirements; captive-breeding and artificial propagation requirements; andeducation to customers. There is also a section on personal effects relevant to travellers. The website provides over600 related Internet links on CITES, the European Commission, national governments and nature conservationorganizations in the EU and elsewhere. Better informed traders and travellers should facilitate the work of CITESAuthorities throughout EU Member States.

CITES and Plants, and

CITES and Succulents

The Conventions and Policy Section of the RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew, will soon produce twopublications that will be of great use to those whowant to get a better understanding of CITESimplementation for plants: CITES and Plants: a User’sGuide and CITES and Succulents.

CITES and Plants is anupdated and greatly expanded

version of the slide packpublished in 1999. The slideshave now been replaced bya well-illustrated PowerPointpresentation, and which pro-vides a very user-friendly toolfor training those who wish toknow more about CITESimplementation for plants.This new version has more detailed speakers notesand additional slides have been added to provide amore comprehensive coverage of particular topics.The advantage of this approach is to make it easierfor the user to tailor the presentation to any type ofaudience or format.

CITES and Succulents has been produced with theaim of providing an introduction to the succulentplants in the CITES Appendices, excluding theCactaceae. Information is provided on theidentification and trade structure of succulent plants

and on the CITES provisionsthat apply to them. Althoughthe guide is primarily intendedas a training tool for thoseinvolved in the imple-mentation of the Convention(Management Authorities,Scientific Authorities, enfor-cement officers), it is alsolikely to be of interest to amuch wider audience, in

particular those that are interested in growing andcollecting this type of plants.

In addition to the speaker’s notes, both guidescontain a detailed bibliography and list of additionalresources. The guides and the accompanyingCD-ROM with the PowerPoint presentations will bepublished by April 2004, in English, French andSpanish.

For details on how to obtain copies please contact:

Conventions & Policy Section

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Richmond

Surrey TW9 3AE

United Kingdom

Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5757

Noel McGough (Tel: +44 (0) 20 83 32 57 22;

email: [email protected])

Madeleine Groves (Tel: +44 (0) 20 83 32 57 23;


Matthew Mustard (Tel: +44 (0) 20 83 32 57 24;



7

CITES Identification Manual

When the Parties to CITES met officially for thefirst time (at the Special Working Session in Genevain 1977), it was already decided that an Identification

Manual should be developed, to assist enforcementagencies in verifying the identity of species in theCITES Appendices.

The first volume of the CITES IdentificationManual, Fauna, (Volume 3) was distributed at thethird meeting of the Conference of the Parties (NewDelhi, 1981). Volumes 1, 2, 4 and 5 were distributedto the Parties after the fourth meeting of theConference of the Parties (Gaborone, 1983). At thattime the Manual contained 312 sheets in total, all inEnglish.

The production of the ID Manual was initially

the responsibility of the Identification ManualCommittee, which was formally established

in June 1979 bythe Standing Com-mittee.This Com-mittee was chairedby Mr Peter Dol-linger from Swit-zerland, who tire-lessly worked on thecontinuous expan-sion of the ID Ma-nual. He increasedalmost single-han-dedly the number ofsheets in the IDManual to 1,356 (all

in English) in 1992,when he stepped

down as Chairman of the ID Manual Committee.Nowadays the production of the ID Manual is theresponsibility of the CITES Secretariat.

At the moment the English edition of the IDManual contains 1,860 sheets on fauna (in ninebinders) and 78 sheets on flora (in one binder). In1991 the first contracts were established to translatethe ID Manual into French. The first volume waspublished in 1993 and currently the French editionconsists of 1,562 fauna sheets in eight binders and23 flora sheets in one binder. The ManagementAuthority of France has contributed considerably topay for the cost of the translations.

The Scientific Authority of Spain has producedthe first volume of the Spanish version of theIdentification Manual in 1994, and continues

providing translations of most of the current

1,215 fauna sheets and 23 flora sheets, in the samenumber of binders as the French version.

Several Parties have also translated the ID Manualin their own languages such as Czech, German, Italianand Russian (the latter sponsored by Germany).

This year the Secretariat has almost completedthe inclusion of all ID sheets into a searchabledatabase. The next step is the updating of all theexisting sheets and their production in electronicformat. The completion of this work largely dependson the availability of funds. About half of the sheetsare currently available in electronic format. Once this

work is completed, the Secretariat will be in a positionto produce, on request, specific national or regionalselections from the Identification Manual.

Next year the Secretariat expects to start postingthe ID Manual on its website. This will also allowthe inclusion of colour illustrations as well as linksto other websites with identification information onthe species concerned.

CITES Identification Guide –

Hunting Trophies

EnvironmentCanada, the CITESManagement Au-thority for Cana-da, has developedCITES Identifi-cation Guides forindividuals respon-sible for enforcingCITES. They pro-vide in English,

French and Spanish,detailed informa-tion for the identi-

fication of species protected under CITES and, insome cases, look-alike species that are not protected.

The latest guide in this collection, the CITESIdentification Guide – Hunting Trophies was publishedwith the collaboration of the CITES Secretariat, theComisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso dela Biodiversidad (CONABIO), Mexico, and SafariClub International.


8

It has been specifically designed to enable non-specialists to identify the most commonly tradedvarieties of hunting trophies. The guide follows thesame structure as the other guides in the series,distinguishing between species that are easy toidentify, similar-looking species that are more

difficult to identify, and species requiring expertinput. More than 275 CITES-protected species areillustrated in this guide, as well as non-protectedspecies with which they can be confused.

All guides in the series can be ordered fromEnvironment Canada (Environmental ProtectionPublications, Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ontario,Canada, K1A 0H3, e-mail: [email protected]), ordownloaded from the Environment Canada lawenforcement website (http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/enforce/species_e.cfm).

Identification Guide to

Butterflies protected by the

CITES Convention and the

European Union

By J.E. Tormo and V. Roncero

This work presents a list of all butterfly speciesprotected by CITES and the European Union. Allspecies are illustrated in colour, together with those

species that are not regulated but similar to them inappearance. Both sexes are illustrated, as well asunderside patterns where these are different from theupperside.

This hard-bound guide is in a large format(340 x 252 mm, and totals 106 pages, includingindexes. Text is cross-referenced to 19 high qualitycolour plates of all species reproduced life-size.

The specimens figured are from privatecollections, as well as from the collections of theBritish Museum (Natural History) in London. Thecomprehensive and extremely informative text isprinted in parallel in Spanish and English.

The authors have been actively involved inNatural History enterprises in Spain for over twentyyears and one of them is an official CITES inspector,working for the Management Authority of Spain.

This volume is a unique and indispensable guidefor all those working for Customs and other lawenforcement agencies. It is also essential referencematerial for museums, universities and libraries, andalso for professional and amateur naturaliststhroughout the world, and for all others concernedwith the protection of butterfly species in rapidlyshrinking habitats.


9

Identification guide for

Vietnamese species in trade

Many identification toolsare available in the threeworking languages of theConvention, but in the realworld officials often need

tools in their nationallanguage. Some existing toolsand materials have beentranslated into a number oflanguages. In other cases,new publications have been

developed to fill the gap. An example of the latter isthe identification manual for fauna species in trade inViet Nam, written in Vietnamese and produced byTRAFFIC Southeast Asia. This pocket-sized manualincludes a description of the Convention and a list ofcommonly traded fauna species that occur in VietNam. For each species the status in CITES (whereapplicable), national legislation and IUCN’s Red Listof ThreatenedSpecies is given.Each species or

taxon is illus-trated and des-cribed, and ad i s t r i b u t i o nmap illustratesthe species’ ran-ge within thecountry. Copies of the manual can be ordered fromTRAFFIC Southeast Asia, at [email protected].

The publishers (Hill House Publishers, Melbourne and London) are world-

renowned for their Natural History books. This volume has been specially supervisedby Bernard D’abrera, who is the entomologist of reference for most of the butterfliesincluded in the CITES Convention and who wrote the foreword.

For all enquiries, please contact:

Erich Bauer

Antiquariat Goecke & Evers

Sportplatzweg, 5

D-75210 Keltern

GERMANY

Tel: +49 (0) 7236-7174

Fax: +49 (0) 7236-7325

http://www.insecta.de

Cambodian wildlife

identification guide for law

enforcement

Another example of auseful guide produced for localrequirements is the Khmer-language guide titled WildlifeIdentification for Law En-forcement, published in 2002by the Department of Forestry

and Wildlife, Cambodia, theWildlife Conservation Society(WCS) Cambodia Program,

and TRAFFIC Southeast Asia-Indochina. This spiral-bound volume provides an overview of theConvention and wildlife trade in Cambodia, followedby well-illustrated descriptions of the mammals,birds, reptiles and fishes most frequently encounteredin trade inC a m b o d i a .Both CITES-listed and non-listed speciesare included.The guide ma-kes a specialeffort to illus-

trate specimens as they appear in trade, such ashorns and trophies, skins, medicinal products,and dead and live specimens in markets. The guidealso includes a list of species covered by nationallegislation and a list of CITES-listed species occur-ring in Cambodia. Copies of the guide maybe ordered from WCS Cambodia Program, [email protected].


10

Identification manual for

common turtles and tortoises

The inclusion of 23 spe-cies of freshwater turtles

in Appendix II at the12th meeting of the Con-ference of the Parties(Santiago, 2002) has furthercomplicated the task of ins-pection officers having to dealwith a difficult group of spe-cies to identify. To simplifythis task, the Management Au-thority of China has produ-ced a comprehensive identifi-

cation manual for common turtles and tortoises intrade, in Chinese. This manual describes and providesillustrations of 77 species of tortoises, freshwaterturtles, soft-shellturtles and marineturtles, including

both CITES-listedand non-listed spe-cies. Colour photo-graphs illustrateboth the uppercarapace and theunderside (plas-tron) of each species, to aid identifying them.Englishspecies and family names are also given, together withthe Appendix (for CITES-listed species), descriptionsof size and morphological features, geographic rangeand native habitats. Copies of this useful manual canbe ordered from the Management Authority of China.

Traditional Asian Medicine

Identification Guide for Law

Enforcers

One of the great difficulties that all enforcementagencies face is trying to identify the enormousvariety of animal and plant species listed underCITES. One area of particular difficulty that officialsare increasingly faced with is that of traditional Asianmedicine. Unless the enforcement officer is fluent inChinese or other Asian languages, it is not always

Identification manual for

common trade birds

Amongst the many speciesin trade that are difficult for

non-specialists to identify,birds are notoriously challen-ging. A bird in a cage may as amatter of fact be much moredifficult to identify than a birdin the wild, as the more usefulclues of locality, habitat andbehaviour are absent. Birds intrade may also have damagedor immature plumage and it isnot unusual for specimens

from different continents to be included in a singleshipment. Birds in trade pose a real problem forofficials verifying the validity of documents,especially in countries where a large variety of birdsare in demand. To assist its national authorities, theManagement Authority of China has published

an identifi-cation manualfor commontrade birds, inChinese. This192-page bookcovers bothCITES-listedand non-lis-ted species fre-quently en-

countered in trade, and provides colour photographsof each species. The more commonly encounteredparrots and birds of prey are described, but most ofthe book is devoted to ‘songbirds’ in trade, as theseare the most challenging to identify. Latin names and

English spe-

cies and familynames are alsogiven, toge-ther with theAppendix (forCITES-listedspecies), des-criptions ofsize and mor-phological fea-

tures, and geographic range and native habitats.Copies may be ordered from the ManagementAuthority of China.


11

Identification guide toseahorses

The 12th meeting of the Conference of Parties toCITES took place in Santiago, Chile, from3 to 15 November 2002. During this meeting theParties voted to include all seahorses (genusHippocampus) in Appendix II of the Convention,effective on 15 May 2004.

clear from the packaging

what ingredients are listedin the medicine. The publi-cation of the TraditionalAsian Medicine IdentificationGuide for Law Enforcersshould greatly help in theidentification of traditionalAsian medicines. Producedby HM Customs & Excise ofthe United Kingdom and

TRAFFIC International, the guide includes over430 colour images of packages that have been foundin trade. The lists of ingredients on these packageshave been translated andany inclusion of a CITES-listed species is indicated.By comparing packages and

their ingredients found inshipments against thosedescribed and illustrated inthe manual, it is possibleto have an informed ideaof whether any of themedicine’s contents arecontrolled or not. The guidealso provides good background informationon traditional Asian medicine, the main species used,and a translation of some of the common Chinesewords used to list the ingredients. (Reprintedwith permission from TRAFFIC Bulletin Vol. 19No. 2 (2002).

The guide exists in a binderformat and CD-ROM. TheCD-ROM version of this guide isavailable from the Secretariat onrequest. An updated version ofthis guide will be available bythe beginning of 2004.

In order for the CITES Appendix-II listing of

seahorses to be effectively implemented, governmentauthorities and other stakeholders need to be able toidentify the 33 different seahorse species. In respon-se to this need, TRAFFIC North America, ProjectSeahorse (University of British Columbia), US Fishand Wildlife Service and US NOAA Fisheries arecollaborating on the development of an identificationguide to seahorses. This project is possible owing togenerous funding support from the NOAA Coral ReefConservation Grant Program and the Curtis and EdithMunson Foundation.

The species descriptions in this guide are basedon a 1999 publication by Project Seahorse entitledSeahorses: An Identification Guide to the World’s Species

and their Conservation (Lourie et al, 1999). Materialsfrom this earlier publication are being revised andreformatted and information is being added. Theoriginal Project Seahorse guide described 32 speciesof Hippocampus. One species, H. denise, has beenadded based on recent research.

The goal ofthe project isto provide a gui-de that is bothtechnically ac-curate and user-friendly – usefulto specialists andnon-specialists

alike. This is nosimple task asmany species are similar in appearance and theiridentification can be challenging. The guide willinclude descriptions, range maps, line drawings andcolour illustrations of each of the 33 species ofseahorse that have been accepted by the CITESNomenclature Committee. Additional materials willinclude advice on seahorse identification andphotographs of species that are commercially tradedfor traditional medicine.


12

Identification manual forcommercially important

timber species from the

Colombian Amazon

The ManagementAuthority of Colom-bia, together with oneof Colombia’s Scienti-fic Authorities (Insti-tuto Amazónico de In-vestigaciones Cientí-ficas SINCHI), has pro-duced a manual for theidentification of com-

mercially importanttimber species from the

Colombian Amazon. The manual includes adescription of CITES, anoverview of all timberspecies included in theAppendices, an expla-nation of CITES permitsand national CITES pro-cedures, and an expla-nation of national legis-lation that applies to thetwo CITES-listed species(Swietenia macrophylla andCedrela odorata) and the 14

Identification guide of shellsand corals included in the

CITES Appendices

The second edition of this well-illustrated bookby Vincente Roncero Corrochano was published inMay 2002. It provides beautiful colour illustrationsof shells and corals that are most frequently found ininternational trade.

The most important aspect of this book is that itwas designed with enforcement officers in mind.Spanish border control officers found that theavailable bibliographical information on shells andcorals was rather dispersed, and therefore not of easyaccess. In addition many of these publications dealt

non-CITES timber-producing species covered by the

manual. Each species is described, giving its scientificname and synonyms, common names, indigenousnames, commercial names, CITES Appendix,description, range, habitat, physical properties ofthe timber and its uses. The manual also includesa table of common na-mes used in Bolivia,Brazil, Colombia, Ecu-ador, Peru and Vene-zuela. Accompanyingthe manual is a foldercontaining wood sam-ples of the 16 speciesincluded in the manual.Copies of the manualand samples can be or-dered from the Mana-

gement Authority ofColombia.

Wood samples of the 16 species

included in the Colombian

Manual

The guide will be published and made availableto the Parties before the listing takes effectin May 2004.


13

ARKive coral identification

website

The Wildscreen Trust is working with the UKManagement Authority (Department forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs – DEFRA) ona pilot project for CITES-listed coral species, to be

used by Customs officers around the world. The coralsection of the ARKive website (www.arkive.org/coral.html) and its on-line ID guide provides 24-houraccess worldwide to Customs officers wishing toidentify the most commonly traded coral groups, aswell as to users as diverse as school children, scientists

with the scientific des-

cription of species, andalthough much scientificand biological informa-tion was available, it didnot correspond to whatthe border inspectorsneeded. This book istherefore a successfulattempt to illustrate mostof the shells and thecorals in the form inwhich they are mostfrequently traded, which makes this a usefulverification guide, even for non-Spanish speakers.

Using this guide in combination with other toolsmentioned in this issue of CITES World will greatlyassist border inspectors with the correct identificationof the most commonly traded species.

Copies of the book, in Spanish only, can bepurchased from the Secretaría General Técnica,Subdirección General de Información, Centro dePublicaciones, Plaza de Campillo del MundoNuevo 3, 28005 Madrid, Spain.

Web Guide to Indo-PacificCorals in International Trade

The US Government’s National Marine FisheryService (NOAA Fisheries) has developed an on-lineidentification manual for Indo-Pacific stony coralsin international trade that are included inAppendix II of CITES (http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/ecosystem/coralid.htm#ID1). It is designedfor use by law enforcement agents as a rapididentification guide to the major taxa of coral inwildlife trade from the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

and holiday makers, allowing them to recognize

endangered corals. This beautifully illustratedwebsite includes both still and moving images.

The website provides an introduction to the maingroups of corals with hard skeletons that are common

in trade, and assists in the identification of livespecimens and cleaned skeletons to genus level.Nearly 3,000 coral species are listed in theAppendices, most of which belong to the OrderScleractinia (stony corals). The guide covers the mostcommonly traded stony corals, as well as fire corals,lace corals, organ-pipe coral, blue coral, black coralsand red corals. The Further information section listsother more detailed identification guides, whichprovide information on genera not covered by thisguide and aid identification to species level.

ARKive is an initiative of the Wildscreen Trust(www.wildscreen.org.uk). It is a centralized digitallibrary of films, photographs and associatedrecordings of species, accessible to all via the World

Wide Web. ARKive finds, sorts, catalogues andcopies key records of species, and builds them into acomprehensive and enduring audio-visual record. Itis ARKive’s ultimate aim to compile an audio-visualrecord, where possible, of the 11,000 animals andplants threatened with extinction, according to theWorld Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Red List ofThreatened Species.

Live corals


14

Using Identification guides

The CITES Team at London Heathrow are in an

enviable position. They are perfectly placedgeographically for identification experts in all faunaand flora. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, theNatural History Museum and the Animal ReceptionCentre are all within ten miles (about 16 km). Thishowever does not detract from the use ofidentification material used by the team.

Corals in the manual are described to the genus level,

based on skeletal structures and live features easy toidentify. The guide emphasizes simple features todifferentiate similar corals, however properidentification of some corals to genus level (and evenmore so to species level) may be difficult when relyingonly on live specimens and may require a microscopicexamination of skeletal structures.

The manual consists of photographs, a list of keyfeatures and a simplified key for Indo-Pacific coralgenera as well as some rapid identification tools.These tools include simple steps to determine theidentity of a coral based on its growth form or polyparrangement, definitions and photos of major skeletalfeatures of stony corals, illustrated keys to separate

genera in the three major growth forms (branching,massive and plating corals), a list of common namesused in the trade, and individual sections on taxa withcharacteristic morphological features and growthforms.

NOAA Fisheries also provides training sessions

in coral identification for law enforcement officialsin the United States and abroad, and can be contactedat NOAA Fisheries, Office of Habitat Conservation(NOAA/F/HC), Ecosystem Assessment Division,1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland20910, United States, or by email to Dr AndyBruckner at [email protected]. A limitednumber of hard copies of the coral identificationmanual are available. A guide for Caribbean corals ininternational trade is currently under development.

On a daily basis the members of the CITES team

receive requests from their Customs colleagues toidentify goods believed to be of animal origin andpossibly regulated under CITES. This is not justlimited to Heathrow staff, as often requests arrivefrom around the country via e-mail or post. Similarrequests regularly arrive from other agencies in theUnited Kingdom, such as the JNCC (Joint NatureConservation Committee, the British ScientificAuthority for fauna), TRAFFIC and the police. Weare also used as a resource by foreign agencies, forexample the team has assisted Republic of IrelandCustoms, New Zealand WEG and Maltese Customsas well as many others.

In cases where the team is sent a request for

identification either by e-mail with photographsattached or the physical item, the team would attempta preliminary identification using the data at ourdisposal. This allows the team to make an educateddecision on the next action or advice to the interestedparty. In many cases an answer is required urgently.There may be a passenger waiting to connect to theirnext flight, or the goods may be live, and thereforetime is of the essence.

For example, a passenger arrived at Heathrow enroute to Germany from Zimbabwe. On a routine stopand search by HM Customs at the flight connectioncentre a number of items of animal origin werediscovered. The CITES team was informed of thediscovery of a number of skins and horns that were

amongst the passenger’s personal effects. Thepassenger’s plane was to leave one hour later.

In preparing to react to this call the team gatheredthe relevant reference material required to completean initial identification. It is imperative to identifythe goods correctly to at least family level to makethe correct decision of further action (HM Customshas the power of detention, which allows us to keepthe goods in our control until a formal identificationis made). If the goods are not subject to control thepassenger will be allowed to continue with his goods.If however the goods are subject to control a numberof decisions will have to be made and questions asked.Is the passenger carrying any paperwork? If yes, is it

the correct paperwork to allow the goods to continue?If not, should the goods be confiscated and thepassenger interviewed, cautioned or arrested?

It is therefore imperative that the initialidentification be reliable. In our initial conversationwith the officer we would determine which type ofanimals we were expecting to see, for instance whetherit is a mammal or reptile, its size, and any colourationor markings. This assists us in deciding whichreference material to employ. In the case of mammal


15

Fifteen years of The Evolution

of CITES

From the Secretary-General

This edition ofCITES World is de-dicated to the differenttypes of material thatare currently availa-ble to assist all thosewho are responsiblefor the correct imple-mentation and en-forcement of the Con-vention. The need for

such tools is becomingmore and more ob-vious and the formsthey take are increa-singly sophisticated.

The provision of information is obviously essentialto CITES and therefore figures amongst the toppriorities of the Secretariat.

Let me share my personal experience with you toshow that the need to have quick and easy access tothe ins and outs of CITES is not new and that it wasnot always as easy as it is today to find referencematerials.

My motto has always been that it is no problemnot to know everything about CITES by heart, as

long as you are able to find quickly what you need to

know when you need to know it. Exactly that hasbecome a lot easier thanks to the efforts of manyParties and the technologies that are now availableto us.

I first got involved in CITES back in 1979 andalready at that time it was awfully complicated. I didnot attend the first two meetings of the Conference ofthe Parties (CoP); I kept forgetting things andconstantly needed to look up provisions in the text ofthe Convention and recommendations and otherreferences in the proceedings of the meetings of theConference of the Parties. Things did not improvewith the years and every new meeting of theConference of the Parties resulted in a bigger pile of

documents to remember.

After CoP5, in 1985, I had really had it. Therewere more than 100 Resolutions to know and theproceedings of the meetings since 1976 amounted tono less than 4,250 pages!

I had already started to summarize texts and tolink recommendations in Resolutions to the articlesof the Convention they concerned, but now I neededto do this more systematically in an attempt not todrown in the avalanche of paper that was sent to meby the CITES Secretariat. This attempt coincidedwith the arrival of the first personal computers and

that facilitated things for me. In 1987, CoP6 addedanother 24 Resolutions and 993 pages of proceedingsto read, but I was on top of it. Finally!

When I mentioned my computer file to my friendBrian Davies, the founder of the International Fundfor Animal Welfare, he immediately suggested tomake it available to all people involved in CITESand agreed to finance the printing of 500 copies ofThe Evolution of CITES, which were donated to theCITES Secretariat. That was in 1988.

Today, fifteen years later, I have finished the7th edition of this book.

The current executives of IFAW decided todiscontinue their traditional funding of thepublication, but fortunately a great many othersrealized how helpful this book is and promptly agreedto finance its printing.

I am very grateful to the Governmentsand Management Authorities of Japan, Spain,Switzerland and the United Kingdom and to SafariClub International for their contribution to preventall those interested in and responsible for CITES andits implementation and enforcement from drowningin paper. What is more, with the now available

funding, Spanish and French versions will be soonproduced!

skins and horns we use the Identification Guide for

Hunting Trophies (produced by EnvironmentCanada, and described elsewhere in this issue) andWalker’s Mammals of the World (R. M. Nowak).Having selected the correct identification materialwe could ascertain in the example given above thatthe skins and matching horns originated from impalaAepyceros melampus and greater kudu Tragelaphusstrepsiceros (both non-CITES species). This allowedthe passenger to catch his onward flight with hisgoods. Without this facility in the majority of casesthe goods would be detained for a formalidentification, costing time and money for allconcerned and in turn upsetting and inconveniencingthe passenger, who in this case had acted withinthe law.

CITES Team

HM Customs and Excise

Heathrow Airport


16

CITES Secretariat

International Environment House

Chemin des Anémones

CH-1219 Châtelaine

Geneva, Switzerland

Telephone: +41 (22) 917 81 39/40 Fax number: +41 (22) 797 34 17

Email: [email protected] Website: htpp://www.cites.org

If you would like to submit an article, or make suggestions or comments, please contact

the Capacity-Building Unit.

Although every attempt is made to ensure the accuracy of the articles, the opinions expressed are those of the individual authors. Thedesignations of geographic entities do not imply the expression of an opinion from the CITES Secretariat concerning the legal status of

any country, territory, or area, or of its frontiers and borders.

Certificate of Commendation awarded to senior Interpol officer

In Notification to the Parties No. 2002/014 of 6 March 2002, the Secretariat advisedthe Parties of the introduction of certificates of commendation that would be issued, atthe Secretary-General’s discretion, to recognize exemplary enforcement actions.

The second such certificate was awarded by the Secretary-General on 1 October 2003

to Mr Torkjel Rygnestad, Assistant Director, General Secretariat of the InternationalCriminal Police Organization (ICPO-Interpol), Lyon, France. It recognizes the exemplarywork undertaken by Mr Rygnestad during his secondment to Interpol from the PoliceDepartment of Norway between 1999 and 2003.

During this period, Mr Rygnestad actively promoted wildlife law enforcement aroundthe world: through his activities with the Interpol Wildlife Crime Working Group; byassisting in raising the general awareness of environmental crime; by participating in thetraining of police and other specialized officers; through the dissemination of intelligence relating to wildlife crimeand illicit trade in wildlife; and by assisting in the coordination of international investigations into crime and illicittrade. His support to the CITES Secretariat in its work relating to enforcement of the Convention was highly valued.Mr Rygnestad’s personal enthusiasm and dedication to this field of law enforcement served as an excellent exampleto a lot of us.

I must admit that this latest edition of

The Evolution of CITES has 586 pages, does not floatin water and therefore does not really qualify as alife-jacket, but it is quite comprehensive and theproceedings of the 12 meetings of the Conference ofthe Parties between 1976 and 2002 total 11,750 pages.With 95% less paper, you don’t even have to swim,you can just walk through the CITES provisions.

I hope you will find the 7th edition of

The Evolution of CITES on your desk soon and wishyou a nice walk in preparation of CoP13 in Bangkokin 2004.

Willem Wijnstekers

Documents

CITES World · of CITES World focuses on a number of current, new or upcoming implementation tools that all have a common purpose: to make CITES work in the real world. These include