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The CITES Secretariat
International Environment House |
The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP and is located at Geneva, Switzerland.
It has a pivotal role, fundamental to the Convention and its functions
are laid down in Article XII
of the text of the Convention. They include:
- playing a coordinating, advisory and servicing role in the
working of the Convention;
- assisting with communication and monitoring the implementation
of the Convention to ensure that its provisions are respected;
- arranging meetings of the Conference of the Parties and of
the permanent Committees at regular intervals and servicing
those meetings (i.e. organizing them, preparing and circulating
meeting documents, making necessary arrangements for delegates
to attend the meetings, providing advice and support, etc.);
- providing assistance in the fields of legislation, enforcement,
science and training;
- undertaking, under agreed programmes, occasional scientific
and technical studies into issues affecting the implementation
of the Convention;
- making recommendations regarding the implementation of the
Convention;
- acting as the repository for the reports, sample permits
and other information submitted by the Parties;
- distributing information relevant to several or all Parties,
for example, proposals to amend the Appendices, sample permits,
information about enforcement problems, national legislation,
reference material or news of a new Party;
- issuing new editions of Appendices
I, II and III, whenever there is a change, as well as of
the Resolutions and Decisions
adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its meetings, and
information to assist identification of species listed in the
Appendices; and
- preparing annual reports
to the Parties on its own work and on the implementation of
the Convention;
The Secretariat distributes information to the Parties mostly
through meeting documents and Notifications.
Except in very few cases, all documents are made available in
the three working languages of the Convention (English, French
and Spanish) and are posted on this website.
The staff list summarizes the responsibilities
of each of the Secretariat’s staff and gives their contact
details. The organigram and our photo
gallery provide a more graphic display (please note that the
images can take a long time to appear if you do not have a fast
connection to the Internet).
Cooperation with other organizations
Goal 5 of the CITES Strategic
Vision is to "increase cooperation and conclude strategic
alliances with international stakeholders" and the Secretariat
has entered into a number of general cooperation agreements with
other organizations. These Memoranda of Understanding are as follows:
- Memorandum
of Understanding among the Secretariat of the Basel Convention
on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
and Their Disposal (SBC) and the Secretariat of the Vienna Convention
for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocal
on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Ozone Secretariat)
and the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
- Memorandum
of Cooperation between the Secretariat of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (Washington, D.C., 1973) and the Secretariat of the Convention
on Biological Diversity (Nairobi, 1992) (see also the amendment)
- Memorandum
of Understanding between the Secretariat of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES Secretariat) and the Secretariat of the Convention
on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS
Secretariat) (see also the new annex)
- Memorandum
of Understanding between the General Secretariat of ICPO-INTERPOL
and the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
- Memorandum
of Understanding between the Secretariat of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora and IUCN-the World Conservation Union, July 1999
- Memorandum of Understanding between
the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the CITES Secretariat
- Memorandum of Understanding between
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) and the CITES Secretariat
- Memorandum
of Understanding between the Task Force for Co-operative Enforcement
Operations directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora
(Lusaka Agreement Task Force) and the Secretariat of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora
- Memorandum
of Understanding between the Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, United Kingdom the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora
- Memorandum
of Understanding between the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) of the United Kingdom (UK) and the
Secretariat to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
- Memorandum
of Understanding between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Office of Law Enforcement/Clark R. Bavin National Fish &
Wildlife Forensic Laboratory and the Secretariat of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora
- Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) concluded between TRAFFIC International,
on behalf of the TRAFFIC Network and the Secretariat of the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (the CITES Secretariat)
- Memorandum
of Understanding between the University of Kent and the Secretariat
of the Convention
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