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Geneva, 3-8 February 2025. The complex legal issues that arise when addressing the actual implementation of the regime set up by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) have been a focus of the Development Law Service’s work, in collaboration with the CITES Secretariat and its Standing Committee (SC). To continue strengthening and advancing this partnership, LEGN was part of the FAO delegation attending the 78^th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee (SC78). This was the largest SC meeting, with over 750 participants registered, including representatives from 87 Parties to the Convention and 110 Observer Organizations, including FAO.

LEGN intervened in several key agenda items. On item 15 (role of CITES in reducing the risk of future zoonotic disease emergence associated with international wildlife trade), FAO’s membership of the Quadripartite (FAO, WOAH, UNEP and WHO) that supports global governance of One Health was highlighted. On item 16 (cooperation with Multilateral Environmental Agreements and other international organizations), FAO drew attention to its work as Chair of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), continuing to support Parties in the sustainable and legal management of CITES-listed tree species. On item 47 (legal acquisition findings), FAO underscored the launch of CITES-LEX in March last year, thanking the Parties that provided feedback on their CITES-LEX country profiles, and encouraging again all Parties to visit the website and send feedback to help LEGN improve the database. On item 49 (introduction from the sea), FAO brought attention to the synergies between CITES and the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA), whose Annex B explicitly refers to CITES, noting FAO’s readiness to continue supporting the Secretariat and Parties in the potential review of the Resolution Conf. 14.6 (Rev. CoP16) on introduction from the sea.

LEGN also participated and contributed to Working Group sessions on (i) zoonotic diseases and One Health, (ii) sharks and rays, and (iii) livelihoods. On the latter, the draft resolution that was discussed includes a recommendation to the CITES Secretariat to work with the SWM Programme to facilitate the implementation of relevant strategies on CITES and livelihoods.  The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme through its Legal Hub were also featured as part of a side event organized by the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW).

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