The Conference of the Parties (CoP) has participants from all CITES Parties as well as non-governmental organizations. At CoPs, the CITES Appendices are formally amended and Parties make decisions on administrative and implementation issues regarding the treaty. Until CoP13, these meeting were held every two years; since then, CoPs are held every three years.

The 17th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to CITES will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from September 24 – October 5, 2016. CoP16 occurred from March 3-14, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.  For more information on CoP16 and its outcomes, click here.

To learn more about the history of CoPs read 40 Years of CITES at a Glance , a historical map outlining the many successes made through CoPs over the last 40 years. This map was recently published in the Winter 2013 issue of FWS News. To read more stories highlighted in this issue, visit our Articles page.

For more information on the structure and role of CoPs, visit the CITES website.

Learn how a non-government organization (NGO) can become an observer to a CoP, click here .