CYIL Vol. 5, 2014

CITES AT THE BEGINNING OF ITS FIFTH DECADE… with the Party concerned in order to resolve it. If the non-compliance is confirmed, the Party concerned is first invited to solve the matter itself “within reasonable time limits” and “if necessary with the assistance of the Secretariat”. 24 If the Party fails to take sufficient remedial action, the matter is brought to the attention of the Standing Committee, 25 who has at its disposal a wide range of measures. Given the aim of the procedure – which is the long-term compliance with CITES obligations – and the general principle of a “supportive and non-adversarial approach”, 26 the Standing Committee should first endeavour to resolve the matter in cooperation with the Party concerned by providing it with “advice, information and appropriate facilitation of assistance and other capacity-building support”. 27 It may also require the Party to submit a compliance action plan “identifying appropriate steps, a timetable for when those steps should be completed and means to assess satisfactory completion”. 28 If the Party is not willing to cooperate, measures of a coercive nature may follow . They may start with a public notification of the matter through the Secretariat to all Parties “advising that compliance matters have been brought to the attention of … [the Party concerned] and that, up to that time, there has been no satisfactory response or action”. 29 The public notification is a sanction in itself (it is a kind of a moral sanction), but its role may be more important: it may serve both as the last warning for the Party concerned and as an attestation of its non-compliance justifying adoption by other Parties of stricter domestic measures regarding the conditions of trade vis-à-vis this Party. 30 The ultimate coercive measure and the one that hits the Party concerned the most, at least in economic terms, is the CITES trade embargo. The Standing Committee may “recommend the suspension of commercial or all trade in specimens of one or more CITES-listed species … in cases where a Party’s compliance matter is unresolved and persistent and the Party is showing no intention to achieve compliance”. 31 The suspension of trade may either concern a particular (or several) species (species-specific trade 24 Ibid. , art. 20. 25 Ibid. , art. 21. The Standing Committee is the senior one of the three permanent committees functioning within the CITES structure (the other two committees being the Animals and the Plants Committees). It was established in 1979, replacing its predecessor – the Steering Committee – established at the first Conference of the Parties three years later. Cf. WIJNSTEKERS, W., op. cit. supra note 13, p. 389-390, and CITES Resolution Conf. 11.1 (Rev. CoP16), entitled Establishment of committees. 26 Guide to CITES compliance procedures, supra note 21, art. 4. 30 Such domestic measures are authorized by CITES, c f. art. XIV para. 1 (a): “The provisions of the present Convention shall in no way affect the right of Parties to adopt … stricter domestic measures regarding the conditions for trade, taking, possession or transport of specimens of species included in Appendices I, II and III, or the complete prohibition thereof”. 31 Guide to CITES compliance procedures, supra note 21, art. 30. The Standing Committee may recommend the suspension of trade also vis-à-vis a State non Party to the convention when it is not issuing documentation comparable with CITES permits and certificates. Given the progressive increase in the number of participating States to the current total of 180 States, which means almost universal participation, this possibility has, however, lost its importance. 27 Ibid. , art. 29 (a). 28 Ibid. , art. 29 (h). 29 Ibid. , art. 29 (f).

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