CITES Federal Law comes into force - WWF-UAE extends assistance

This means that all businesses involved in such trade (such as caviar, agar wood oud, furniture, plant and pet stores), will now be liable if trade in CITES listed species is not regulated through a system of certificates and permits issued by the Management Authority (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for Dubai and the Northern Emirates, and the FEA in Abu Dhabi).

WWF - UAE can assist your business to conform to CITES through a series of presentations, awareness material and profiles of the most commonly traded species, in English and Arabic.

WWF has conducted CITES training and educational workshops over the past year for government and customs officials and has recently begun a series of workshops for pet shops in the UAE. On May 18, a presentation was held in both Arabic and English at Dubai City Hall for pet shops trading in Dubai. This presentation covered an introduction of CITES and gave specific information on registering species and applying for CITES permits. In addition, similar presentations will be organized for the emirates of Abu-Dhabi and Sharjah.

WWF has also been involved in CITES research, surveys, working with local authorities on registration procedures, and producing numerous brochures and CD's on CITES as well as individual CITES species. WWF has also been actively working in cooperation with UAE Authorities on developing CITES at a national level.

An intense training workshop, to be held in Dubai, is currently being organized by WWF to take place from June 7-9 and will be facilitated by the CITES Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland. This workshop will be offered for the local CITES authorities and customs officials of the UAE.