THE WASHINGTON CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA.
When You spend a vacation in Italy, according to the Washington Convention you cannot buy and import in your country our wild species of flora and fauna.
The Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora, more commonly known as CITES, aims at regulating the international trade of specimens of
endangered animals and plants, in particular by monitoring their exportation, re-exportation,
importation, transit, transhipment or possession for any ends in the 130 countries that are a party to
CITES.
The European Union applied the Washington Convention by means of Regulation (EEC) No 338/97
and following amendments, aiming at improving the identification of the species to be protected, by
drawing up the lists contained in the Annexes to the abovementioned Regulation.
In Italy the enforcement of the complex EU legislation in application of the Convention falls within
the competence of various administrations: the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry for
Productive Activities, the Customs Agency and the Ministry for Agricultural and Forestry Policies.
The latter, together with the CITES Service of the Corpo Forestale dello Stato (the Italian Forest
Rangers), is responsible for issuing CITES permits and, more in general, for monitoring the traded
species by means of task forces working on the national territory in close co-operation with the
authorized Customs offices listed in Decision No. 5987 dated 6/5/02 that are in charge of those
checks that under national legislation fall within the competence of the Customs Authority (Law
No. 150/92 and further amendments).
To learn the formalities to be performed for the trade and personal use of plants, live or dead
animals and parts thereof and not to incur in severe sanctions provided for by legislation in force,
please contact the competent authorities (the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry for
Productive Activities, the Ministry for Agricultural and Forestry Policies and the Customs Agency).
For further information, please refer to the CITES Manual, which contains information about the
legal framework, definitions of the most frequently used Customs and CITES terminology, the list
of authorized Customs Offices, a clear and comprehensive explanation of the formalities to be
performed and the forms to be filled in for the various procedures.