WWF-EWS urges all businesses to acquire the necessary CITES permits

CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and is the largest and most effective international agreement for the conservation of biological diversity.

CITES regulates international trade of species of wild fauna and flora through a permit system during export, re-export, and import of live and dead animals and plants, and their derivatives. These permits and certificates must be issued before trade, and only if certain conditions are met and have been presented before consignments of specimens are allowed to leave or enter a country. There are currently 160 member countries to this Convention, adding to its strength and importance.

When UAE joined the Convention in May of 1990, little was done to implement and enforce the CITES regulations that apply to all member Parties. Because of the lack of regulation, involvement and knowledge concerning CITES, the CITES Standing Committee imposed a trade suspension on the UAE in November of 2001. This decision was based on numerous reports sent to the CITES Secretariat concerning the lack of enforcement of the Convention in the UAE.

The trade suspension involved notifying all other CITES member Parties immediately and advising them not to issue any permits (import or export) for any CITES listed plants and animals for the UAE. Some exotic woods, animal parts such as skins and leathers, and live animals, among others were forbidden to enter or exit the UAE. This was damaging to many companies and organizations and immediately diminished profits. However, it was most damaging to the reputation and image of the country and its President when exposed at an international level as not being environmentally responsible.

WWF was at the origin of CITES and TRAFFIC (an international wildlife trade monitoring organization) and is capable of assisting the UAE government in developing a CITES implementation mechanism. It is important that CITES is implemented and enforced in the UAE in order to control and regulate a trade that is detrimental to the future of many species, as well as to the reputation of the UAE within the international arena.

After collaborative efforts in acquiring the necessary tools to implement the Convention, the trade suspension was lifted in November 2002 during the 12th Conference of Parties in Santiago, Chile. The protection of listed species through the implementation of CITES is now a UAE Federal Law, which makes it illegal with penalties to trade in CITES species without proper permits or certificates. Due to this new law, custom officers and officials will be carrying out checks and examining documentation and species. If documentation fails to meet CITES regulations or does not match the species, the offender will be facing a minimum of penalty fines. The goods will be confiscated regardless.

The CITES Capacity Building project coordinated by WWF-EWS is a current project to develop higher levels of awareness concerning CITES and to assist the UAE government in their capacity building, training and enforcement activities, as well as creating receptiveness from businesses on the consequences of illegal trade of CITES species.

It is important that businesses understand the requirements and regulations of CITES, as well as the consequences of not complying with these regulations. For example, a UAE business that trades and imports in perfume containing agar wood, which is an Appendix II CITES listed specie, would require the prior presentation of either an export permit or a re-export certificate from the exporting country.

If that same company wanted to export their agar wood perfume to outside the UAE, they would require the prior grant and presentation of an export permit from the Management Authority of the UAE, which would be done only if the Management Authority was satisfied that the specimen was not obtained in contravention with the laws of the UAE and the regulations of CITES.

WWF-EWS urges all businesses to acquire the necessary permits from CITES Management Authorities. The UAE Management Authority for Abu Dhabi is the Federal Environmental Agency (FEA), and can be contacted at 02-667 0501. The Management Authority for the Northern Emirates is the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), and can be contacted at 04-665 4787.


For any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact the WWF-EWS office at 02-693 4425 or email wwfuae@erwda.gov.ae.