National Consultative Workshop on CITES Law: Background Note

IUCN in collaboration with IUCN Pakistan’s State Member, National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) is organizing a national consultative workshop on Saturday, the August 20, 2005 at Margalla Hotel, Islamabad. The purpose of this workshop is to finalize the CITES Law for enactment and notification by the Government of Pakistan. Federal Minister for Environment has kindly consented to be the chief guest on this occasion.

As you are aware that CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between Governments throughout the world, to which States (countries) adhere voluntarily. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. States that have joined CITES are known as Parties. CITES provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

Pakistan being a party to CITES has a national obligation to enact and notify a Federal Legislation for effective implementation of CITES in the country. In this regard, draft legislation was prepared jointly by IUCN Pakistan and the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW). This draft has already been circulated among the stakeholders and comments were obtained. The same draft has also been shared with the relevant departments in all the provinces. On the basis of comments received from the provinces and CITES Secretariat, this draft legislation has now been revised and ready to be finalized. It is hoped that the CITES Law for Pakistan will be agreed and finalized at this workshop and eventually sent to Government of Pakistan for notification.

The International agreement of CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted by the members of The World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 1963. The text of the Convention was finally agreed at a meeting of representatives of 80 countries in Washington DC on March 3, 1973, and it came into force on July 1, 1975. CITES is an international agreement with largest membership in the world, which currently stands at 168 Parties.

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