ABSTRACT
The origin of CITES lies in a 1963 resolution of the General Assembly of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), now the World Conservation Union, calling for ‘an international convention on regulation of export, transit and import of rare or threatened wildlife species or their skins and trophies’. 2 Successive draft texts were prepared and circulated by the IUCN Environmental Law Centre in Bonn, then revised in 1969 and 1971 in light of comments received from 39 governments and 18 non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
