Registration of captive breeding facilities the "one and only" road to commercial trade with captive bred appendix I animal species?

Abstract

Trabajo Fin de Máster Propio. Tutores: Dra. Dª Mercedes Núñez Román; Mgr. Dagmar Zíková. The thesis addresses the issue whether the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) stipulates Parties’ legal obligations to export captive-bred Appendix I animal species only, if the breeding facility registered is registered under Resolution Conf. 12.10 (Rev. CoP15). Beyond the legal question, the focus is mainly on the policy issue whether the registration system provides added value in respect of the protection of endangered species in comparison to a stand-alone permit system, balanced against a possible delta regarding administrative burdens, and should therefore be the preferred option. The research was conducted as a desktop study. Key documents from the CITES context were identified and used, as well as data from the CITES Trade Database covering a five year period from 2017 to 2021, the CITES Register on breeding operations, information from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UNODC’s World Wildlife Crime Reports on laundering risk, Transparency International’s corruption index, published information on six registration procedures, and a chronology of CITES Resolutions dealing with a register for captive-breeding operations. The findings are that, strictly from a legal point of view, there is no legal obligation. In addition, a strict permit system could qualify as a stricter domestic measure. From a policy perspective, the current registration system provides added value. However, its administrative burdens compared to the counterfactual outweigh the benefits. Therefore, a stand-alone national permit system is preferred, alternatively, the registration system should be reformed. Ideas for reforms are included.