A Loophole in Article VII of CITES: A Case Against Annex I Species Breeding

Abstract

The illegal wildlife trade requires further investigation as a major factor in biodiversity loss. In view of the scale and expansion of this phenomenon, it seems particularly pressing to consider the potential for optimizing the effectiveness of current regulations, and this year’s 50th anniversary of CITES is the ideal time to do so. A number of factors contribute to the reduced effectiveness of CITES, some of which—such as the lack of national political to enforce this regime—are not necessarily attributable to the Convention itself. On the contrary, other factors are directly linked to its provisions. This article investigates how the possibility offered by Article VII (4) and (5) of breeding certain Appendix I species for commercial purposes feeds the illegal wildlife trade. I argue that these breeding practices that fail to take into account certain economic and physiological realities of the animals they breed are not financially viable without recourse to illegal harvestings from the wild, and thereby (i) accentuate the current heavy pressures on wild populations and (ii) distort the authenticity of trade flows. Finally, I show that a large proportion of wild animal farming fails to meet consumer demand and, on the contrary, actually increases the consumption of wild animals.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 S Diaz et al, Summary for Policymakers of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Bonn, IPBES, 2019).

2 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (adopted 3 March 1973, entered into force 1 July 1975) 993 UNTS 243.

3 The illegal trade in endangered species is now considered to be the world’s third largest commercial trade: see JM Fromentin et al, Summary for Policymakers of the Thematic Assessment of the Sustainable Use of Wild Species of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Bonn, IPBES, 2022). For example, in 2016, it was estimated that African elephant populations had experienced their sharpest decline in 25 years: ‘La population des éléphants d’Afrique enregistre sa pire chute en 25 ans’ Le Nouvel Observateur, 26 September 2016, https://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/animaux/grands-mammiferes/la-population-des-elephants-d-afrique-a-enregistre-sa-plus-importante-chute-depuis-25-ans_105157. Meanwhile, global tiger populations have declined by 97%: L Tensen, ‘Under What Circumstances Can Wildlife Farming Benefit Species Conservation?’ (2016) 6 Global Ecology and Conservation 286.

4 M Natali, Le Droit International Face au Trafic Illégal de Biodiversité Sauvage (Paris, L’Harmattan, 2023).

5 In accordance with Article VII(4) of the Convention, species protected under Appendix I are considered to fall under Appendix II when they have been bred in captivity and may therefore be traded.

6 See TRAFFIC, Captive Breeding and Ranching. The Case for a New CITES Mechanism for Reviewing Trade; https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/7515/cites-cop17-ranching-captive-breeding.pdf; Z Jiang et al, ‘Captive-Bred Tigers and the Fate of Wild Tigers’ (2007) 57 BioScience 725; D Biggs et al, ‘Legal Trade of Africa’s Rhino Horns’ (2013) 139 Science 1038.

7 See further S Oldfield (ed), The Trade in Wildlife: Regulation for Conservation (London, Earthscan, 2003); HB Cott, ‘Scientific Results of an Inquiry into the Ecology and Economic Status of the Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus Niloticus) in Uganda and Northern Rhodesia’ (1961) 29 Journal of Zoology 211.

8 Although this latter example needs to be qualified, as the operating methods for the species differ from those regularly used in other structures. See CITES Conf. 11.6 (Rev. CoP13), “Trade in vicuna cloth”; “Trade in vicuna fibre, implications for conservation and rural livelihoods”, 13th meeting of the CITES Animals Committee, 16–21 July 2018, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/ac/30/Inf/E-AC30-Inf-20.pdf (2018); G Lichtenstein, Trade in Vicuna: The Implications for Conservation and Rural Livelihoods (Geneva, International Trade Centre, 2018).

9 By way of example, this is true of cheetah farming: see in particular P Tricorache and D Stiles, Wildlife Trafficking Black Market Brief—Live Cheetahs (Geneva, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 2021); see also CITES Standing Committee, Illegal Trade in Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus). Report of the Working Group, SC66 Doc. 32.5, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/sc/66/E-SC66-32-05x.pdf. Similar concerns have also been raised in respect of pythons: see DJD Natusch and JA Lyons, Assessment of Python Breeding Farms Supplying the International High-End Leather Industry (Gland, IUCN, 2014); JA Lyons and DJD Natusch, ‘Wildlife Laundering through Breeding Farms: Illegal Harvest, Population Declines and a Means of Regulating the Trade of Green Pythons (Morelia Viridis) From Indonesia’ (2011) 144 Biological Conservation 3073. South Asian parrots have also been identified as a species of concern in this respect: S Furnell, Strengthening CITES Processes for Reviewing Trade in Captive-Bred Specimens and Preventing Mis-Declaration and Laundering: A Review of Trade in Southeast Asian Parrot Species (Cambridge, Traffic, 2019).

10 Resolution Conf. 10.16 (Rev.): ‘Specimens of Animals Species Bred in Captivity’ defines the term ‘bred in captivity’ as well as advancing criteria for determining whether a breeding operation can be registered with CITES. The Resolution refers to prohibiting the introduction of wild specimens into these controlled environments, with limited exceptions, including the need to avoid inbreeding,

11 Tensen (n3); J Bell Rizzolo, ‘Effects of Legalization and Wildlife Farming on Conservation’ (2021) 25 Global Ecology and Conservation e01390.

12 A large number of CITES documents refer to this problem, including CITES Standing Committee, Illegal Trade in Cheetahs, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/sc/74/E-SC74-62.pdf, and Resolution Conf. 17.7 (Rev. CoP18), ‘Review of Trade in Animals’ Specimens Reported as Produced in Captivity,’ https://cites.org/sites/default/files/documents/E-Res-17-07-R18.pdf.

13 MH Mockrin et al, Wildlife Farming: A Viable Alternative to Hunting in Tropical Forests? (New York, Wildlife Conservation Society, 2005).

14 DJ Crookes and JN Blignaut, ‘Debunking the Myth That a Legal Trade Will Solve the Rhino Horn Crisis: A System Dynamics Model for Market Demand’ (2015) 28 Journal of Natural Conservation 11.

15 Futura-Science, ‘L’éléphant: Quelle est sa durée de Gestation?,’ https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/questions-reponses/nature-elephant-duree-gestation-563.; RR Swaisgood et al, ‘A Captive Population in Crisis: Testing Hypotheses for Reproductive Failure in Captive-Born Southern White Rhinoceros Females’ (2006) 129 Biological Conservation 468.

16 RI Orenstein, Ivory, Horn and Blood: Behind the Elephant and Rhinoceros Poaching Crisis (Buffalo, Firefly Books Ltd, 2013).

17 P Aiyar, ‘Selling The Tiger To Save It: Will It Work?’, The Hindu, 21 February 2007, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/Selling-the-tiger-to-save-it-will-itwork/article14723466.ece; J. Mills, Rebuttal to ‘Sell the Tiger to Save It’, Big Cat Rescue Organization, https://bigcatrescue.org/rebuttal-to-sell-the-tiger-to-save-it; PA Lindsey and A Taylor, A Study on the Dehorning of African Rhinoceroses as a Tool to Reduce the Risk of Poaching (Johannesburg, South African Department of Environmental Affairs, 2011).

18 Aiyar (n17).

19 K Nowell, An Assessment of Conservation Impacts of Legal and Illegal Trade in Cheetahs (Acinonyx Jubatus), SC65 Doc.39 (Rev. 2), Annex 1 of the Report “Interpretation and implementation of the Convention Species trade and conservation. Illegal Trade in Cheetahs”, 65th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee. Kristin Nowell, CAT and IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group1, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/sc/65/E-SC65-39.pdf.

20 Tensen (n3).

21 Traffic, ‘New Studies Highlight Critical Issues for CITES Implementation’, https://www.traffic.org/news/new-studies-highlight-critical-issues-for-cites-implementation.

22 Tensen (n3).

23 LH Emmons, ‘Ecological Considerations on the Farming of Game Animals: Capybara Yes, Pacas No’ (1987) 1 Vida Silvestre Neotropica 54; Mockrin (n13).

24 Mills (n17).

25 J Hutton and G Webb, ‘Crocodiles: Legal Trade Snaps Back’ in S Oldfield (ed), The Trade in Wildlife: Regulation for Conservation (London, Earthscan, 2003) 117); R Drury, ‘Hungry for Success: Urban Consumer Demand for Wild Animal Products in Vietnam’ (2011) 9 Conservation and Society 237.

26 E Livingstone and CR Shepherd, ‘Bear Farms in Lao PDR Expand Illegally and Fail to Conserve Wild Bears’ (2016) 50 Oryx 176–184.

27 CITES Standing Committee, ‘Interpretation and implementation of the Convention. Species trade and conservation. Illegal trade in cheetahs’, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/sc/65/E-SC65-39.pdf.

28 CITES, (n12).

29 Traffic (n6).

30 V Nijman and CR Shephard, Wildlife trade from ASEAN to the EU: Issues with the Trade in Captive-bred Reptiles from Indonesia (Cambridge, TRAFFIC, 2009); see also Lyons and Natusch (n9) and MR Bezuijen et al, ‘Status of Siamese Crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) Schneider, 1801 (Reptilia: Crocodylia) in Laos’ (2013) 47 Journal of Herpetology 41.

31 See for instance JA Lyons et al, ‘Orientations pour l’inspection des établissements d’élevage en captivité et d’élevage en ranch’ https://cites.org/sites/default/files/fra/prog/captive_breeding/F-InspectionGuidance-FINAL.pdf, and CITES, CITES Cheetah Trade Resource Kit, https://cites.org/eng/prog/terrestrial_fauna/cheetahs/toolkit.

32 UNDOC, World Wildlife Crime Report. Trafficking in Protected Species, https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/2020/World_Wildlife_Report_2020_9July.pdf.

33 Tricorache and Stiles (n9).

34 Ibid.

35 CITES Conf. 17.7 (Rev. CoP18), ‘Review of Trade in Animals’ Specimens Reported as Produced in Captivity’, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/documents/E-Res-17-07-R18.pdf.

36 CITES Conf. 12.10 (Rev. CoP15), ‘Enregistrement des établissements élevant en captivité à des fins commerciales des espèces animales inscrites à l’Annexe I’, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/document/F-Res-12-10-R15.pdf.

37 CITES, ‘Interpretation and Implementation Matters—Exemptions and Special Trade Provisions. Review of CITES Provisions Related to Trade in Specimens of Animals and Plants Not of Wild Source, Report of the Working Group’, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/sc/74/E-SC74-56.pdf.

38 See WWF/TRAFFIC, ‘CITES: Breeding Tigers for Trade Soundly Rejected’, http://www.traffic.org/home/2007/6/13/cites-breeding-tigers-for-trade-soundly-rejectedwwftraffic.html.

39 RC Kirkpatrick and L Emerton, ‘Killing Tigers to Save Them: Fallacies of the Farming Argument’ (2010) 24 Conservation Biology 655; B Abbott and GC Van Kooten, ‘Can Domestication of Wildlife Lead to Conservation? The Economics of Tiger Farming in China’ (2010) 70 Ecological Economics 721.

40 H Nam Dang Vu et al, ‘The Impact of a Legal Trade in Farmed Tigers on Consumer Preferences for Tiger Bone Glue—Evidence from a Choice Experiment in Vietnam’ (2022) 65 Journal of Nature Conservation 126088.

41 S Stoner, et al, Reduced to Skin and Bones Re-examined: An Analysis of Tiger Seizures from 13 Range Countries from 2000–2015 (Selangor, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, 2016).

42 Nam Dang Vu (n40).; see also Tensen (n3).

43 J Phelps et al, ‘A Framework for Assessing Supply-Side Wildlife Conservation’ (2013) 28 Conservation Biology 244.

44 Ibid. See also Kirkpatrick and Emerton (n39) and Nam Dang Vu H (n40).

45 DP Van Uhm, The Illegal Wildlife Trade. Inside the World of Poachers, Smugglers and Traders (Cham, Springer, 2016).

46 R Drury, ‘Hungry for Success: Urban Consumer Demand for Wild Animal Products in Vietnam’ (2011) 9 Conservation and Society 247; see also S Haitao et al, ‘Farming Endangered Turtles to Extinction in China’, (2007) 21 Conservation Biology 5.

47 A Gault, Y Meinard and F Courchamp, ‘Consumers’ Taste for Rarity Drives Sturgeons to Extinction’ (2008) 1 Conservation Letters 199.

48 JL Garrison, ‘The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Debate over Sustainable Use’ (1994) 12 Pace Environmental Law Review 301.

49 C Fischer, ‘The Complex Interactions of Markets for Endangered Species Products’ (2004) 48 Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 926.

50 R Harvey, ‘Risks and Fallacies Associated with Promoting a Legalized Trade in Ivory,’ (2016) 43 Politik 215.

51 Bell Rizzolo (n11).

52 UNODC (n32); see also L Kneteman, ‘Rhino Horn and Tiger Wine: How he Illegal Wildlife Trade Is Growing Bolder’, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rhino-horn-and-tiger-wine-how-illegal-wildlife-trade-growing-bolder-180970382; J Khanna and J Hartford, ‘The Ivory Trade Ban: Is It Effective?’ (1996) 19 Ecological Economics 147; M t’ Sas Rolfes, ‘Assessing CITES: Four Case Studies’ in J Hutton and B Dickson (eds), Endangered Species, Threatened Convention: The Past, Present, and Future of CITES (London, Earthscan, 2000) 69–87; P Rivalan et al, ‘Can Bans Stimulate Wildlife Trade?’ (2007) 447 Nature 529; D Slavik, ‘The Economics and Client Options of Polar Bear Conservation Hunting in the Northwest Territories, Canada’ in MMR Freeman and AL Foote (eds), Inuit, Polar Bears, and Sustainable Use (Edmonton, Canadian Circumpolar Institute Press, 2009) 65–80.

53 Livingstone and Shepherd (n25).

54 Wildlife Justice Commission, To Skin a Cat: How Organized Crime Capitalises and Exploits Captive Tiger Facilities, November 2022; Kirkpatrick and Emerton (n39); WWF Global, ‘WWF and Tiger Farming’, http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/our_global_goals/species_programme/species_news/tiger_farming; K Nowell and X Ling, Taming The Tiger Trade: China’s Markets for Wild and Captive Tiger Products Since the 1993 Domestic Trade Ban (TRAFFIC East Asia, 2007).

55 Bell Rizzolo (n11).

56 Ibid.

57 ‘One-off sales’ are exceptional sales of elephant tusks, harvested after population management operations and/or following their natural death, set up by CITES in an attempt to flood the ivory market with legal products in order to lower prices and make illegal trafficking less attractive. The first one-off sale took place in 1999, enabling Japan to purchase ivory stocks from Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe (Communiqué de presse CITES, ‘Les ventes d’ivoire ont le feu vert’, 16 July 2008). The second took place in 2008 and offered these same African states, plus South Africa, the opportunity to sell a total of 108 tonnes of ivory to Japan and China (‘CITES meeting to consider ivory and timber trade’, CITES press release, 14 July 2008).

58 J Hoyt, How Sustainable Use Is Wiping out the World’s Wildlife (Washington DC, The Humane Society of the United States, 1994); EH Bulte and R Damania, ‘An Economic Assessment of Wildlife Farming and Conservation’ (2005) 19 Conservation Biology 1222.

59 GG Gabriel et al, ‘Making a Killing. A 2011 Survey of Ivory Markets in China’, http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/Making%20a%20Killing.pdf.

60 Hoyt (n58).

61 Kirkpatrick and Emerton (n39); J Phelps et al., ‘A Framework for Assessing Supply-Side Wildlife Conservation’ (2013) 28 Conservation Biology 244.

62 EGE Brooks et al, ‘The Conservation Impact of Commercial Wildlife Farming on Porcupines in Vietnam’ (2010) 143 Biological Conservation 2808; JA Lyons and Natush (n9); Mockrin (n13).

63 CITES decisions 19.55 to 19.57 (Rev. CoP19), ‘Demand Reduction to Combat Illegal Trade’ (2022).

64 Tensen (n3); See JAJ Eikelboom et al, ‘Will Legal International Rhino Horn Trade Save Wild Rhino Populations?’ (2020) 23 Global Ecology and Conservation e01145.

65 For example, the South African Management Authority has noted that the majority of live cheetahs exported from the country come from facilities not registered with CITES: Décision 16.72, ‘Interprétation et application de la Convention. Commerce d’espèces et conservation. Commerce illégal des guépards’; see also Tricorache and Stiles (n9).

66 V Mitsilegas et al, The Legal Regulation of Environmental Crime: The International and European Dimension, (Leiden/Boston, Brill, 2022) 7–54.

67 J Green et al, ‘African Lions and Zoonotic Diseases: Implications for Commercial Lion Farms in South Africa’ (2020) 9 Animals 1692; see Rizzolo (n10).

68 At CoP19 in Panama City in 2022, CITES decisions 19.15 to 19.19 reinforced its role in reducing the emergence of future zoonoses, in particular by encouraging practices that reduce the risk of spreading pathogens.

69 CITES, ‘CITES Initiative to Improve Regulation of Trade in Captive-Raised Animals and Artificially Propagated Plants’, https://cites.org/eng/news/cites-initiative-to-improve-regulation-of-trade-in-captive-raised-animals-and-artificially-propagated-plants_23032018.

70 CITES, ‘New Multilingual Tool to Assist with Inspection of Captive-Breeding and Ranching Facilities and Application of Source Codes on CITES Permits’, https://cites.org/eng/news/new_multilingual_tool_inspection_captive_breeding_ranching_facilities_application_source_codes_cites_permits_31012022.

71 CITES, ‘Interpretation and Implementation Matters—Exemptions and Special Trade Provisions. Captive Bred and Ranched Specimens’, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/sc/74/E-SC74-57.pdf.

72 R Sampson et al, ‘Super Controllers and Crime Prevention: A Routine Activity Explanation of Crime Prevention Success and Failure’ (2010) 23 Security Journal 37; D Brack and G Hayman, International Environmental Crime: The Nature and Control of Environmental Black Markets (London, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2002).