Guidance for CITES Scientific Authorities

Checklist to assist in making non-detriment findings for Appendix II exports Compiled by A. Rosser and M. Haywood

Use of and trade in wildlife is a fact of life for human society around the globe. Article IV of the CITES Convention requires that exporting countries restrict trade in Appendix II species to levels that are not detrimental either to species' survival, or to their role within the ecosystems in which they occur (known as the "non-detriment finding"). Based on two workshops convened by IUCN to develop some pragmatic assistance for Scientific Authorities, this publication presents the background to the development of the non-detriment finding checklist and explains how the checklist itself is designed to work, in the hope that Scientific Authority staff will take and develop the parts of the approach that they find useful.

Fiche d’évaluation pour aider à émettre un avis de commerce non préjudiciable pour les exportations de spécimens de l’Annexe II

Listado de apoyo para la elaboracion de dictamenes de no-perjudicial para las exportaciones del Apendice II

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The following are links to specific sections of the publication:

Preliminary Pages (Cover, Contents, Acknowledgements, List of Workshop Participants) (338 KB)

PART I: Introduction and rationale (116 KB)

PART II: Presentations made by Scientific Authority staff from producer and consumer Parties (141 KB)

PART III: Technical considerations in making non-detriment findings (88KB)

PART IV: Guidelines to assist the Parties in making non-detriment findings (4,681 KB)

ANNEX I: French and Spanish translations of the Checklist to assist Scientific Authorities in making Non-detriment Findings (1,262 KB)

ANNEX II: Background Documents Text of the Convention (245 KB)

References (345 KB)