CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments with the aim to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate it requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation. CITES was conceived in the spirit of such cooperation and Malaysia is a party to this Convention.
All import, export, re-exports and introduction from the sea of species covered by the Convention has to be authorized through a licensing system. Each Party to the Convention must designate one or more Management Authorities in charge of administering that licensing system and one or more Scientific Authorities to advise them on the effects of trade on the status of the species. The Management Authority for CITES certificates in Malaysia is the Department of Agriculture (Jabatan Pertanian Malaysia) and application forms for CITES certificates can be obtained from the Department of Agriculture offices listed in their website or from the Plant Quarantine Office.
The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices:
Appendix 1
Species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants. They are threatened with extinction and CITES prohibits international trade in specimens of these species except when the purpose of the import is not commercial, for instance for scientific research.
Appendix 2
Species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled. International trade in specimens of Appendix-II species may be authorized by the granting of an export permit or re-export certificate. No import permit is necessary for these species under CITES (although a permit is needed in some countries that have taken stricter measures than CITES requires).
Appendix 3
Species included at the request of a Party that already regulates trade in the species and that needs the cooperation of other countries to prevent unsustainable or illegal exploitation. International trade in specimens of species listed in this Appendix is allowed only on presentation of the appropriate permits or certificates.
In Malaysia N. rajah and N. khasiana have been listed under Appendix 1 (at the time of writing) and all other species of Nepenthes are listed under Appendix 2. This means that N. rajah and N. khasiana is endangered with extinction while other species are threatened with possible future extinction in the wild. The status of the genus Drosera and Utricularia is unknown at this time as there is very little research on these genus.
For more information on CITES, login to thier website at http://www.cites.org/.