CITES established the first global framework regulating international trade in endangered species, protecting over 40,900 plant and animal species.
Key Facts
- Full name
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
- Also known as
- Washington Convention
- Opened for signature
- 1973-03-03
- Entered into force
- 1 July 1975
- Species protected
- More than 40,900 species
- Originating resolution year
- 1963
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
In 1963, members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) adopted a resolution calling for an international agreement to regulate trade in wild animals and plants. Growing concern that unregulated international commerce posed a serious threat to the survival of numerous species prompted negotiations toward a binding multilateral instrument.
On 3 March 1973, representatives gathered in Washington, D.C., to open CITES for signature. The treaty created a permit and certificate system to control import and export of specimens belonging to listed species, assigning varying degrees of protection according to the conservation status of each species.
CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975 and became one of the largest conservation agreements in existence, extending legal protections to more than 40,900 species of animals and plants. Its permit-based trade controls established a model for international environmental governance and placed binding obligations on member states to prevent trade-driven extinctions.
Political Outcome
A binding multilateral treaty entered into force in 1975, establishing a permit system to regulate international trade in over 40,900 endangered species of fauna and flora.
No binding international framework regulated trade in endangered wild species
Global permit-and-certificate system under CITES controls cross-border trade in listed species