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The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is a treaty aimed at protecting species at risk from international trade. CITES regulates international trade in animals and plants by listing species in one of its three appendices. The level of monitoring and control to which an animal or plant species is subject depends on which of the three appendices the species is listed. Appendix III includes species that are protected in at least one country, in which that country has asked other CITES Party countries for assistance in controlling and monitoring international trade in that species. (Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction, in which their trade is only allowed in exceptional circumstances. Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival).

For species to be added or removed from Appendices I or II, a vote is required at a CITES Conference of the Parties, which is held every 2-3 years, but any CITES Party may add a native species to Appendix III unilaterally, provided that the Party has domestic laws to protect the species.

In order to export or re-export a specimen of an Appendix-III species, a CITES document must be issued by the exporting or re-exporting country’s CITES Management Authority. If the Party that included the species in Appendix III is the country of export, a CITES export permit is required. An export permit for specimens of an Appendix-III species can only be issued if the CITES Management Authority determines that the specimens were legally acquired. If a non-listing country wishes to export Appendix-III specimens, it must issue a CITES certificate of origin stating that the specimens originated from its country in order for the export to lawfully occur. In the case of a re-export of an Appendix-III specimen, a re-export certificate issued by the country of re-export is required.