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In the Jaunmokas Palace until 14 May the Nature Conservation Agency has provided an exhibition about the CITES or the 1973 Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and ensuring the popularisation of the convention’s aims in Latvia.

The exhibition offers you to learn about the regulations of CITES convention, see the list of endangered wild animal and plant species that are included in the convention, learn about the usages of CITES species specimens, and also about a vast array of wildlife products derived from them.

Exhibition has CITES specimens that have been confiscated in Latvia in previous years – fur of rare animals, products from crocodile leather and snake skin, shells, fragments of coral colonies and products from them, perfume and pharmaceutical products, etc.

International trade with endangered species specimens is one of the most substantial risk factors for the existence of these wildlife species. At the moment CITES convention protects more than 30 000 species and more than 170 countries have signed the document about it. Latvia joined the CITES convention in year 1994.

Customs officers of the State Revenue Service already since year 1997 are performing the functions of CITES control institution in Latvia by performing CITES compliance verification on external borders of Latvia. Since year 2003, the functions of CITES supervision institution are performed by the Nature Conservation Agency, and both institutions have a successful collaboration. In this collaboration the employees of National Conservation Agency are consulting the customs offices in cases of suspected irregularities, they organise expertises of the detained objects or animals, performs the analysis of documents provided by carrier, and, after contacting the state institutions of detained objects/animals are researching their legal origin and the authenticity of documents. With joint forces, each year they succeed to prevent several dozens of attempts to smuggle out from Latvia or to smuggle in specimens of CITES.

The added value of effective CITES implementation and control in Latvia and in world is the maintenance of business environment that is honest and coordinated with nature conservation provisions.