Azerbaijani ecology ministry’s reps attend int’l conference in Thailand
Delegation of the Azerbaijan's Ministry of Ecology led by Deputy Minister Rauf Hajiyev participates in the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Bangkok, Thailand.
The meeting will continue until March 14. CITES COP16 will address a number of substantive issues on trade of endangered species, including: amendments to the Appendices of the Convention which lists a number of species listed as controlled species due to their risk of extinction. The COP was inaugurated by Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra.
This year also celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Convention and is the first COP of CITES Maldives has participated in. Maldives submitted the Instrument of accession to CITES on December 12, 2012 and will be an official party to the convention from March 12.
CITES is a multilateral agreement between 178 states which aims to safeguard the conservation and sustainable exploitation of the planet's animal and plant populations. Signed in Washington in 1973, the Convention is due to celebrate its 40th anniversary this year in Bangkok. Besides being one of the 178 parties, Switzerland plays a special role within CITES as the Depositary state and host to the CITES Secretariat. It also has a strong interest in seeing that the Convention is implemented properly and effectively, as the country that issues the most CITES certificates for its booming watchmaking industry and its luxury goods industry. According to how threatened with extinction they are, CITES species are grouped into three categories benefiting from different levels of protection. Depending on the category, the import and export of live specimens of plants or animals or parts thereof are either prohibited or subject to licensing.