Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It is an international agreement between governments, which aims to protect certain animal and plant species from over-exploitation by trade. In Scotland and the rest of the UK, this agreement is given legal authority by the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997, known as COTES.

There were 3 CITES offences in 2022-23, a large fall from the previous year.
Figure 17: CITES offences recorded by Police Scotland 2018-19 to 2022-23.

As shown in Figure 17, the number of CITES offences is typically low. However, a very sharp increase was seen in 2021-22 (46 offences) and this reflected the successful impact of Operation Tantallon – a police operation targeting crimes regarding the theft, illegal handling and trade of wild peregrine falcons. Out of 46 CITES offences in 2021-22, 41 concerned offences against peregrine falcons in the Lothians & Borders police division. In 2022-23, there were 3 CITES offences, a large drop compared to 2021-22, and a return to a more typical level. However, there may be some recorded crimes in 2022-23 relating to Operation Tantallon and offences against peregrine falcons which have been classified under the broader heading of raptor persecution.

Further detail on CITES offences by police division and type of offence is provided in Table 40 of the Tables supporting document.