APHIS Manual for CITES I-II-III Timber Species Useful for Lacey Act
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has updated its CITES I-II-III Timber Species Manual. This Manual provides U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Plant, Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) personnel with guidelines for the import, re-export, violation, seizure, and forfeiture of CITES Appendix I, Appendix II, and Appendix III protected timber species.
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Lacey Act Amendments and Declaration Focus on Illegal Timber and Its Products
The Lacey Act Amendments enacted in 2008 prohibit the import, export, transport, selling, receiving, etc. of any plant or plant product (including illegally logged timber and timber products) taken or traded in violation of U.S. state law and most foreign laws.
Enforcement of the Lacey Declaration requirements (Phases II, III, and IV) have focused on HTS Chapter 44 (wood and articles of wood). In addition, Justice Department officials have stated that illegally logged timber, and the wood products made from such timber, would be their top enforcement focus. This focus would be expected to include any CITES-listed timber species.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 09/02/09 news, 09090205, for BP summary of enforcement phases I-III. See ITT's Online Archives or 10/15/08 and 10/27/08 news, 08101505 and 08102705 respectively, for BP summaries of the DoJ's view on illegally logged timber and its products as their top enforcement priority.)
CITES- Listed Timber Species in Appendixes I-III
The Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) definition of Appendixes I-III, and the timber species in each, are as follows:
Appendix I Timber
Appendix I lists those species that are most endangered among CITES-listed plants, and are threatened with extinction; CITES generally prohibits commercial international trade in specimens of these species.
The CITES Appendix I protected timber species are as follows:
- Abies guatemalensis (Guatemalan fir)
- Araucaria araucana (monkey puzzle tree)
- Dalbergia nigra (Brazilian rosewood)
- Fitzroya cupressoides (alerce)
- Pilgerodendron uviferum (pilgerodendron)
- Podocarpus parlatorei (Palatore’s podocarp)
Appendix II Timber
Appendix II includes those species which are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but may become so unless trade in specimens of such species is subject to strict regulation in order to avoid utilization which is incompatible with the species’ survival.
The CITES Appendix II protected timber species are as follows:
- Aniba rosaeodora (Brazilian rosewood)
- Bulnesia sarmientoi (gaiacwood)
- Caesalpinia echinata (pernambuco
- Caryocar costaricense (ajillo)
- Gonystylus spp. (ramin)
- Guaiacum spp. (lignum vitae)
- Oreomunnea pterocarpa (gavilan)
- Pericopsis elata (afrormosia)
- Platymiscium pleiostachyum (cristobal, granadillo)
- Pterocarpus santalinus (red sandalwood, red sanders)
- Swietenia humilis (Pacific Coast mahogany)
- Swietenia macrophylla (bigleaf mahogany)
- Swietenia mahogani (Caribbean mahogany)
Appendix III Timber
Appendix III includes those species that have been added 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 of the species.
The CITES Appendix III protected timber species are as follows:
- Cedrela odorata (Spanish cedar)
- Dalbergia retusa (Nicaraguan rosewood)
- Dalbergia stevensonii (Honduran rosewood)
- Dipteryx panamensis (almendro)
- Magnolia liliifera var. obovata
- Podocarpus neriifolius (podocarp)
- Tetracentron sinense (tetracentron)
Alternative Common Names also Listed
Numerous alternative common names for these species are also listed in this PPQ Manual. In addition, most of the pages of the PPQ manual have been updated in this edition, which also consists of (1) decision tables to determine the correct species and (2) real world examples.
Shipping Documents Must Identify CITES Species
The PPQ manual also states that to determine if an importation is a CITES Appendix I, II or III timber species, the shipping documents must be reviewed. Regulations require CITES plants to be identified as to their genus and species by either a label; the invoice or packing list, or tag; or another document accompanying the shipment.
For a complete list of the flora protected by CITES, see the CITES Appendixes available at http://www.cites/org/eng/app/index.shtml.
(Note that the PPQ Manual's cover includes a photo of a guitar of Brazilian rosewood courtesy of C.F. Martin & Company. Press reports indicated in December 2009 that various items had been seized from their Nashville plant during an Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) raid, including an allegedly endangered form of rosewood from Madagascar. APHIS sources have commented that the photo of the Martin guitar has been on the cover of this PPQ manual for a number of years, while trade sources note that the raid in and of itself is not an indication that Martin violated any laws. See ITT's Online Archives or 12/02/09 news, 09120299 #1 for earlier BP summary on the Martin raid.)
(See ITT's Online Archives or 07/15/10 news, 10071530, for BP summary of the European Parliment's approval of legislation to ban illegally harvested timber and timber products, which it states is similar in purpose to the Lacey Act. See ITT's Online Archives or 06/10/10 news, 10060955, for BP summary on new international alliance to help firm's avoid illegal wood trade.)