‘Compliance’ in the context of CITES means to act in accordance with and in fulfilment of the Convention’s requirements; it is the primary responsibility of the Parties and a core business of the Convention. Parties are required to have an administrative and regulatory system in place to ensure that the Convention achieves its objectives; failure to do so may result in becoming subject to one or more compliance measures, including trade suspensions. The cost of non-compliance can be high for the survival of entire species populations.
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Provisions of the Convention
Resolutions/Decisions
- Resolution Conf. 14.3 (Rev. CoP19) CITES Compliance Procedures
- Resolution Conf. 11.3 (Rev. CoP19) Compliance and Enforcement
- Decisions 19.44-19.46 Compliance Assistance Programme
CITES approach to compliance
CITES’ approach towards compliance matters is “supportive and non-adversarial” with the aim of ensuring long-term compliance. Resolution Conf. 14.3 (Rev. CoP18) contains, in its Annex, a Guide to CITES compliance procedures to assist CITES bodies in dealing with compliance matters. There are four steps for handling compliance matters in a diligent manner:
a) identification of potential compliance matters;
b) consideration of compliance matters;
c) measures to achieve compliance; and
d) monitoring and implementation of such measures and reporting.
Compliance Assistance Programme
At CoP18, the Parties established a new Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) aimed at providing targeted support to Parties facing persistent compliance challenges. If a Party is facing compliance challenges, it is invited to approach the CITES Secretariat for advice and guidance.
More information about the CAP available here.
Search for Parties subject to compliance procedures
CITES Parties may be subject to one or more compliance processes. To see which Parties are currently subject to a specific compliance process, or a combination of compliance processes, please tick the relevant boxes below.
For more details about the compliance status of an individual Party, please refer to the country profile of that Party.
Identification of CITES compliance matters
Many compliance matters are identified through monitoring processes established by Resolutions, adopted by the Conference of the Parties. Where a compliance matter is persistent, or a Party is subject to two or more of these processes, it may be handled under Article XIII of the Convention.
- Resolution Conf. 8.4 (Rev. CoP15) National laws for the implementation of CITES
- Resolution Conf. 12.8 (Rev. CoP18) Review of Significant Trade in specimens of Appendix-II species
- Resolution Conf. 17.7 (Rev. CoP18) Review of trade in animal specimens reported as produced in captivity
- Resolution Conf. 11.17 (Rev. CoP18) National reports
- Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP18) Trade in elephant specimens (with respect to the provisions on the National Ivory Action Plan process)
- Article XIII (see below)
Article XIII processes
Triggering Article XIII is considered to be a serious indication of apparent systemic or structural problems with the implementation and enforcement of the Convention. An Article XIII process will often include an inquiry being carried out by the Secretariat in the country concerned, upon invitation from the Party, leading to detailed recommendations being made by the Standing Committee on actions to be taken by the Party. Such recommendations will cover all issues relevant for the effective implementation of the Convention. A number of Parties have been or are subject to an Article XIII process.
At its 77th meeting (Geneva, November 2023), the Standing Committee reviewed Article XIII processes with regards to the following Parties: Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, the European Union, Guinea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Mexico, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
An expedited application of Article XIII for West African rosewood (Pterocarpus erinaceus) is ongoing in relation to Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia (the), Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Recommendations to suspend trade
In certain cases, the Standing Committee decides to recommend the suspension of commercial or all trade in specimens of one or more CITES-listed species with a Party that is considered to be in non-compliance, consistent with the Convention. Such a recommendation may be made in cases where a Party’s compliance matter is unresolved and persistent, and the Party is showing no or little intention to achieve compliance. A recommendation to suspend trade is always specifically and explicitly based on the Convention and on any applicable Resolutions of the Conference of the Parties as mentioned in the box on compliance processes above.
Current recommendations to suspend trade may be found on the dedicated webpage.