DIREZIONE GENERALE
PER LA POLITICA COMMERCIALE INTERNAZIONALE - Div. III
Ufficio CITES
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Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora |
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(Last updated 7 September 2011) |
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* N.B.: The Operations' Manual is undergoing revision |
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CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora - is an international agreement between Governments. Its aim is to protect specimens of plants and animals by regulating and monitoring their international trade. The Convention, the text of which was agreed upon at a meeting in Washington in 1973, entered into force in 1975. There are now 175 Member Parties to the Convention. The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP,
the United Nations Environment Programme
that is located in Geneva-Switzerland.
The European Union represents one of the
largest markets for wild animals and plants, their products and
derivatives. Due to the European Single Market, CITES provisions are
applied uniformly in the E.U. territory through the EU Wildlife Trade
Regulations. |
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EU Regulations Since January 1st, 1984, the Community
has been implementing the provisions of CITES through common Regulations
that, with regard to certain species, impose stricter conditions than
those required by CITES itself.
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Companies wishing to import and/or
export specimens of wild animals or plants or derivatives thereof from and to non-EU
countries should first verify whether these products are covered by the
Convention. In addition, it is useful to consult the Secretariat’s Web page http://www.cites.org/eng/resources/reference.shtml, which contains a list of the countries currently subject to a recommendation to suspend trade in all species or in specimens of certain species. Such recommendations may be amended over time. After the status of the specimen to be imported or exported has been determined, a permit should be applied for as indicated below. Once filed, the import/export permit application shall be submitted for opinion to the CITES Scientific Authority. The Office may issue a permit within 30 days of the date of submission of the complete application. The term is suspended till the Office obtains the positive opinion of the Scientific Authority or after the satisfactory completion of consultation of third parties”. In case of doubts or misunderstanding, our Office is ready to provide any kind of support (see contact persons).
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Import
and export permits must be applied for before animals, plants parts or
derivatives thereof arrive at the Customs office. CITES goods imported
without valid permits may be seized by Customs and the importer may face a
fine and/or imprisonment. The obtain CITES permit an appropriate permit application form has to be completed (see Forms). Application forms may be sent to the relevant Office by telefax too, provided that a copy of the identity paper of the applicant (or of the legal representative of the company) is attached.
Forms
must be filled in and signed by the applicant. A processing fee of €
15,49 for each permit (covering maximum 3 species) shall be paid at
the Post Offices, using the form No. Mod. ch-8-ter, to Tesoreria
Prov.le VT L. 59 13/3/93 Fauna e Flora Direz. Prot. Natura, current
account No. 10178010, specifying the following reason “D.M.
Ambiente 28/5/93 diritto speciale di prelievo” (see instructions and
fax no. under the section “Forms”). A copy(2) (not the original document) of the CITES permit/certificate issued by the exporting Country and the original receipt of the application fee payment of € 15,49 must be sent, together with the forms duly filled in, to the Ministry of Economic Development by mail or fax. In any case, both the original application and the fee payment receipt must be forwarded to the Ministry. CITES permits will not be issued until the original receipt of the application fee payment arrives. When completing the forms, applicants must enter both the common and the correct scientific (Latin) name of the specimen. In case of difficulties, consult the Annexes to the Commission Regulation (EC) No 709/2010(3) listing the common and scientific names of protected fauna and flora species.
If
import permits are not used within the validity period (one year), they
must be returned to the
Ministry of
Economic Development
together with
the original copy of the CITES export permit issued by the third Country. This
rule is
also applied to export permits which have expired or unused
(validity period of six months) (1) As regards specimens of wild fauna or flora, or parts thereof, already imported into the national territory and re-exported to non-EU countries, the permit application shall be filed with the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forest Policies - State Corps of Forest Rangers - CITES Service. (2) The original copy of the CITES permit/certificate issued by the exporting Country shall be submitted to the Italian Customs authorities together with the import license.
(3)some
species of fauna, even if they are included in the Annexes to the European
Regulation, may not be introduced into the national territory (see
“Relevant Italian Legislation”). |
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If you are thinking of bringing back exotic souvenirs from abroad, you should check with the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Economic Development or the Ministry of Agricultural and Forest Policies – State Corps of Forest Rangers, which items you can bring back before you leave as you may need an export and an import permits. In any case, you should consult the Annexes to the Commission Regulation (EC) No 709/2010. The introduction or re-introduction into the Community of the following items listed in Annex B to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 – provided they are contained in the personal luggage of travellers - shall not require the presentation of any CITES document:
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CITES application shall be sent to the following address:
Ministry of Economic Development The various import or export permit application forms are available on this webpage. Please read Instructions and Explanations carefully before completing forms no. 1 and no. 2.
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For any information, please contact our Office by telephone, fax or e-mail:
Telephone no. :
+39 (06) 59932253 E-mail: cites@sviluppoeconomico.gov.it Operator: +39 (06) 59931
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