Introduction

The 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is one of the oldest multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). A specific tool rather than a global solution, it addresses one of the principal causes of biodiversity loss – the international wildlife trade. Since its inception, CITES has been seen as the flagship wildlife agreement. Most perceive it as effective, although there has never been a thorough empirical assessment of the effectiveness of CITES – or of the extent to which it is truly implemented and enforced at national level.

The origin of CITES lies in a 1963 resolution of the General Assembly of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), now the World Conservation Union, calling for ‘an international convention on regulation of export, transit and import of rare or threatened wildlife species or their skins and trophies’. Successive draft texts were prepared and circulated by the IUCN Environmental Law Centre in Bonn, then revised in 1969 and 1971 in light of comments received from governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The IUCN initiative coincided with a US prohibition of imports of wildlife ‘threatened with worldwide extinction’, except for scientific or breeding purposes, under the 1969 Endangered Species Conservation Act. Complaints of competitive disadvantage from US traders led to efforts by the US Government to seek a binding international convention on endangered species conservation.