About CITES:

• CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments.
• Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
• It entered into force in July 1975. Currently there are 184 Parties (include countries or regional economic integration organizations).
• The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP (The United Nations Environment Programme) and is located at Geneva, Switzerland.
• Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties, it does not take the place of national laws.
• Rather, it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.
• Appendix I

• • They are threatened with extinction and CITES prohibits international trade except when the purpose of the import is not commercial, for instance for scientific research.
• Appendix II

• • It lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled. 
• Appendix III

• • It is a list of species included at the request of a Party that already regulates trade in the species and that needs the cooperation of other countries to prevent unsustainable or illegal exploitation.