Species conservation: Switzerland affected by amendments to the CITES Convention
Bern, 01.05.2017 - Changes to Swiss legislation aimed at improving the supervision of trade in protected animals and plants have taken effect as of 1 May 2017. They follow on from the 50-plus amendments to the “CITES appendices” decided at the 17th Conference of the Parties to CITES which took place in Johannesburg from 24 September to 4 October 2016. This has resulted in new requirements for the import and export of furniture and instruments made of particular types of wood and of various animal and plant species.
The amendments affect international trade with various types of wood, cacti, species of pangolins, various mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, among others. There is also a sharper focus on seawater animals, with several species of shark, rays and the sea snail now being included in the CITES appendices.
The new CITES rules mean that all animals and plants and goods manufactured from or containing the newly included species of flora and fauna must be accompanied by a CITES certificate when they are imported into Switzerland. This applies particularly to raw wood from the relevant species imported to construct musical instruments and to finished instruments and furniture. For these types of wood, the only exemptions from the CITES convention relate to non-commercial import and export by travelling individuals up to a maximum weight of ten kilograms per consignment. This applies, for example, to musicians travelling with their instruments.
The multilateral CITES Convention protects animals and plants from overuse as a result of international trade. The Conference of the Parties to CITES takes place every three years. During the most recent Conference of the Parties to CITES, held in the autumn of 2016 in South Africa, the parties agreed a number of amendments to the CITES Convention, some of them substantial. The parties included an unprecedented number of new species in the lists covered by the Convention, known as the CITES appendices.
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Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO)
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