Kategorie: News
Necessary regulation of international trade in wild animals and plants
Since Monday, November 24, 2025, nearly 200 signatory states to the CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species have been meeting in the Uzbek city of Samarkand. The aim of the convention is to regulate international trade in wild animals and plants in such a way as to ensure the long-term survival of endangered species. Now it is clear that the intensive and sometimes difficult negotiations have been worthwhile!
The international species protection conference has placed more than 70 shark and ray species under protection. At the 20th Conference of the Parties (CoP20), the member states decided that more than 70 species of sharks and rays will no longer be allowed to be traded internationally, or will only be allowed to be traded under strict restrictions.
Whale sharks and all manta and devil rays have been added to Appendix I of the CITES Convention, which prohibits all commercial international trade in these species and their products.
Houndsharks (Triakidae), Dogfish sharks (Squalidae), and gulper shark (Centrophorus granulosus) have been placed in Appendix II and are therefore subject to strict trade controls. In addition, a zero export quota has been set for several species of guitarfish and wedgefish, which is equivalent to an international trade ban.
Of particular note is the inclusion of gulper sharks, a group of deep-sea sharks that are heavily hunted for the cosmetics industry due to the squalene contained in shark liver oil and have been the focus of increased attention in recent months.
All conservation proposals were submitted by a broad coalition of governments and achieved the necessary two-thirds majority:
The Appendix I proposals from Ecuador for manta rays and devil rays and from the Maldives for whale sharks were adopted by consensus. The Appendix II proposals for Houndsharks (Triakidae), Dogfish sharks (Squalidae), submitted by Brazil and the EU, were also approved by consensus. The proposals for gulper sharks (Centrophorus granulosus), led by the United Kingdom and the EU, were adopted with 86% approval. The zero quota proposals for guitarfish (submitted by Benin) and wedgefish (submitted by Senegal) received 82% and 85% approval, respectively.