CITES and UNEP support strengthening of wildlife laws

According to the latest figures released by the National Legislation Project of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife and Flora (CITES), 88 countries and 13 dependent territories need to strengthen their legal frameworks for the effective implementation of CITES, including to combat illegal trade in wildlife.

Concerned URL	http://cites.org/eng/CITES_UNEP_wildlife_laws
Release date	13/05/2015
Contributor	mlsusini
Geographical coverage	Global,
Keywords	endangered species, CITES, UNEP,

The CITES National Legislation Project has identified 17 countries that require attention as a priority, namely Algeria, Belize, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Comoros, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Pakistan, Paraguay, Rwanda, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania and Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Pursuant to CITES resolutions and decisions and following the call from the UN Secretary General to strengthen the UN System response to tackling illegal trade in wild fauna and flora, UNEP and the CITES Secretariat today announced a collaborative initiative to provide assistance to priority countries and territories, upon their request, to enhance their legislation.

This includes the provision of targeted legal advice on the four basic domestic measures required by CITES, compilation of examples of best legislation, drafting support and close cooperation with UNODC and UNDP on the implementation of the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the strengthening of the rule of law and the fight against corruption. A Webpage containing model laws, examples of existing legislation and relevant information has been created by the CITES Secretariat and can be found at http://cites.org/legislation.

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