NCJ Number
242594
Journal
.Siak - International Edition: Journal for Police Science and Practice Volume: 3 Dated: 2013 Pages: 84-93
Date Published
2013
Length
10 pages
Annotation
In 1982 Austria joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The aim of the signatory states, which presently number 175, is to protect endangered animal and plant species by restricting transnational trade in them.
Abstract
In 1982 Austria joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The aim of the signatory states, which presently number 175, is to protect endangered animal and plant species by restricting transnational trade in them. A complex body of regulations based on CITES has been established through several legislative acts of the European Union and national legislatures that hinder the transport of certain higher organisms, parts of them, and products produced from them through bureaucratization. The actual goal of CITES, that of reducing the removal of wild specimens from their natural habitats, is unfortunately barely discernible any more. Implementation of the increasing body of regulations causes considerable frustration, both among citizens affected by the norms, who are mostly not legal experts, and the responsible public security bodies, which tend to have little familiarity with natural history. This essay seeks to point out the points of friction between terms that are used both in the legal and biological fields but are not consistent in content, to shed light on the meaning of biological terms, and to present the biological processes that are intended to be influenced by CITES. An appraisal of the prospect of succeeding in protecting plant and animal species by counteracting natural selection through trade-restricting legislation runs through the essay. (Published Abstract)