Maldives becomes a party to CITES

The Maldives has become an official party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a convention that controls international trade of endangered species of wild fauna and flora.

The parliament approved becoming a party to the convention in October 2012. CITES states that survival is threatened for over 33,000 species of animals and plants in the world. By becoming a member, Maldives must work to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild.

Ministry of Environment and Energy said today that a small ceremony was arranged by the CITES Secretariat for the Maldives to become a party, and that the conference began when the Secretariat of CITES replaced the Observer name plate of Maldives with Party name plate and allowed Maldives to make its first statement as a Party addressing more than 150 countries present in the conference.

Environment Ministry said in a statement, “CITES is a convention that controls international trade of endangered species of wild fauna and flora. By becoming a party to the convention Maldives shall regulate trade of species listed in CITES appendices I and II.”

The ministry said that Appendix I lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants, while Appendix II lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled.

The statement further said, “International trade in specimens of Appendix-II species may be authorized by the granting of an export permit or re-export certificate. No import permit is necessary for these species under CITES (although a permit is needed in some countries that have taken stricter measures than CITES requires). Permits or certificates should only be granted if the relevant authorities are satisfied that certain conditions are met, above all that trade will not be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild.”

In Maldives, the relevant Management Authority to the convention is the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Scientific Authorities are the Environmental Protection Agency and the Marine Research Centre.