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Cancilleria de Colombia

Misión permanente de Colombia ante las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra

GINEBRA
ATENCIÓN AL CIUDADANO

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in 1973 and entered into force on July 1975. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

The species protected by the CITES are listed in three Appendices to the Convention, according to the degree of protection needed.

The subsidiary bodies of the Convention are:

The Permanent Secretariat, managed by the UNEP, with headquarters in Geneva, which functions consists in the preparation of the Conference of the Parties.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) meets every two to three years, to review the implementation of the Convention with the purpose of:

Review the progress in the conservation of the species listed in the three Appendices;

Analyse proposals to amend the species included in Appendices I and II;

Recommend measures to improve the efficacy of the Convention, and

Ensure the effective functioning of the Secretariat.

The Standing Committee is responsible of the implementation of the Convention.

The Animals and Plants Committees, are responsible for providing technical support to the decision making process in terms of the species and the nomenclature used in the Appendices and documents.

Colombia and the CITES

The Convention was adopted in Colombia by Law 17 of 1981 and its amendments by Law 807 of 2003 and declared enforceable by the Constitutional Court trough Sentence C-012/04.

Colombia is the regional representative of the area of Central and South America and the Caribbean in the Standing Committee, until 2016.  

From the 25th to the 27th of November, 2014, it was held in Santa Marta (Colombia) the International workshop on sharks: articulating experiences and strategies for implementation of species included in CITES Appendix II.

The follow-up and implementation of the Convention is a competency of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development