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85-699: One of the main reasons for the relative rarity and high cost of agarwood is the depletion of the wild resource. Since 1995, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has listed Aquilaria malaccensis (the primary source) in its Appendix II (potentially threatened species) . In 2004, all Aquilaria species were listed in Appendix II; however, a number of countries have outstanding reservations regarding that listing. The varying aromatic qualities of agarwood are influenced by

170-870: A Royal Monopoly over the sale of Calambac. This monopoly helped fund the Nguyễn state finances during the early years of the Nguyen rule. Accounts of international trade in agarwood date back as early as the thirteenth century, note India being one of the earliest sources of agarwood for foreign markets. Xuanzang 's travelogues and the Harshacharita , written in seventh century AD in Northern India, mentions use of agarwood products such as 'Xasipat' (writing-material) and 'aloe-oil' in ancient Assam (Kamarupa). The tradition of making writing materials from its bark still exists in Assam . It

255-696: A CITES export permit or re-export certificate to be granted by the Management Authority of the exporting country before the trade occurs. Examples of taxa listed on Appendix II are the great white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ), the American black bear ( Ursus americanus ), Hartmann's mountain zebra ( Equus zebra hartmannae ), green iguana ( Iguana iguana ), queen conch ( Strombus gigas ), emperor scorpion ( Pandinus imperator ), Mertens' water monitor ( Varanus mertensi ), bigleaf mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla ), lignum vitae ( Guaiacum officinale ),

340-737: A CoP, while the Standing committee meets also in years with a CoP. The Committee meetings take place in Geneva, Switzerland (where the Secretariat of the CITES Convention is located), unless another country offers to host the meeting. The Secretariat is administered by UNEP . The Animals and Plants Committees have sometimes held joint meetings. The previous joint meeting was held in March 2012 in Dublin , Ireland , and

425-465: A framework of no detriment findings for each state and the Navajo nation and indicated that approval would be forthcoming if the states and Navajo nation provided evidence that their furbearer management programs assured the species would be conserved. Management programs for these species expanded rapidly, including tagging for export, [2] and are currently recognized in program approvals under regulations of

510-579: A member state and to be a Party to the convention. The REIO can vote at CITES meetings with the number of votes representing the number of members in the REIO, but it does not have an additional vote. In accordance with Article XVII, paragraph 3, of the CITES Convention, the Gaborone Amendment entered into force on 29 November 2013, 60 days after 54 (two-thirds) of the 80 States that were party to CITES on 30 April 1983 deposited their instrument of acceptance of

595-491: A mould, and in response will produces a salutary self-defence material to conceal damages or infections. While the unaffected wood of the tree is relatively light in colour, the resin dramatically increases the mass and density of the affected wood, changing its colour from a pale beige to yellow, orange, red, dark brown or black. In natural forests, only about 7 out of 100 Aquilaria trees of the same species are infected and produce aloes/agar wood. A common method in planted forestry

680-486: A process known as the fei liang gai yuan ( 廢兩改元 ; 'Abolishing tael and changing to yuan'). During this time the Republican government cleared all banknotes denominated in the ancient tael currency, making all bills which used this currency unit obsolete. Modern studies suggest that, on purchasing power parity basis, one tael of silver was worth about 4,130 yuan RMB in the early Tang dynasty , 2,065 yuan RMB in

765-432: A range of miscellaneous compounds. The exact balance of these materials will vary depending on the age and species of tree as well as the exact details of the oil extraction process. Oud has become a popular component in perfumery. Most brands have a creation based on or dedicated to "oud" or an accord of oud created through the use of certain chemical scent components. Few perfume houses use real oud in their creations. This

850-833: A result, agarwood and its essential oil gained great cultural and religious significance in ancient civilizations around the world, being described as a fragrant product as early as 1400 BCE in the Vedas of India . In the Hebrew Bible , "trees of lign aloes" are mentioned in The Book of Numbers 24:6 and a perfume compounded of aloeswood, myrrh , and cassia is described in Psalms 45. Dioscorides in his book Materia Medica (65 CE) described several medical qualities of agarwood (Áγαλλοχου) and mentioned its use as an incense. Even though Dioscorides describes agarwood as having an astringent and bitter taste, it

935-405: A safety barrier for humans that can prevent pathogens from animals passing themselves on to people. Suggestions for improvement in the operation of CITES include: more regular missions by the Secretariat (not reserved just for high-profile species); improvement of national legislation and enforcement; better reporting by Parties (and the consolidation of information from all sources-NGOs, TRAFFIC,

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1020-451: A select few, leaving many species to be traded with neither constraint nor review. For example, recently several bird classified as threatened with extinction appeared in the legal wild bird trade because the CITES process never considered their status. If a "positive list" approach were taken, only species evaluated and approved for the positive list would be permitted in trade, thus lightening

1105-469: A unit of weight and, by extension, a currency. Traditional Chinese silver sycees and other currencies of fine metals were not denominated or made by a central mint and their value was determined by their weight in taels. They were made by individual silversmiths for local exchange, and as such the shape and amount of extra detail on each ingot were highly variable; square and oval shapes were common but "boat", flower, tortoise and others are known. The tael

1190-439: A wide range of items including the whole animal/plant (whether alive or dead), or a product that contains a part or derivative of the listed taxa such as cosmetics or traditional medicines . Four types of trade are recognised by CITES - import , export , re-export (export of any specimen that has previously been imported) and introduction from the sea (transportation into a state of specimens of any species which were taken in

1275-506: Is 1 + 1 ⁄ 3 oz. avoir. Similar to Hong Kong, in Singapore, one tael is defined as 1 + 1 ⁄ 3 ounce and is approximated as 37.7994 g The Taiwan tael is 37.5 g and is still used in some contexts. The Taiwan tael is derived from the tael or ryō ( 両 ) of the Japanese system (equal to 10 momme ) which was 37.5 g. Although the catty (equal to 16 taels)

1360-457: Is because oud is very expensive and potent. Oud is generally used as a base note and is traditionally paired with rose. Oud essential oil is available on the internet but care should be taken in choosing the vendor. Due to the fact that oud is such an expensive material there is a big market for diluting oud oil with patchouli or other chemical components. Oud scent is popular in the Middle East ,

1445-510: Is difficult given the GEFs more ecosystem approach-or other more regular funds. Development of a future mechanism similar to that of the Montreal Protocol (developed nations contribute to a fund for developing nations) could allow more funds for non-Secretariat activities. From 2005 to 2009 the legal trade corresponded with these numbers: In the 1990s the annual trade of legal animal products

1530-523: Is equivalent to 10 mace (Chinese: 錢 ; pinyin: qián ) or 1 ⁄ 16 catty , albeit with slightly different metric equivalents in these two places. These Chinese units of measurement are usually used in Chinese herbal medicine stores as well as gold and silver exchange. The English word tael comes through Portuguese from the Malay word tahil , meaning "weight". Early English forms of

1615-721: Is included in one of three lists called Appendices. The Appendix that lists a taxon or population reflects the level of the threat posed by international trade and the CITES controls that apply. Taxa may be split-listed meaning that some populations of a species are on one Appendix, while some are on another. The African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) is currently split-listed, with all populations except those of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe listed in Appendix I. Those of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe are listed in Appendix II. There are also species that have only some populations listed in an Appendix. One example

1700-466: Is incomplete; and it has no capacity to address domestic trade in listed species. In order to ensure that the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was not violated, the Secretariat of GATT was consulted during the drafting process. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 CEO Ivonne Higuero noted that illegal wildlife trade not only helps to destroy habitats, but these habitats create

1785-548: Is legally binding on the Parties, it does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework respected by each Party, which must adopt their own domestic legislation to implement CITES at the national level. Originally, CITES addressed depletion resulting from demand for luxury goods such as furs in Western countries, but with the rising wealth of Asia, particularly in China,

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1870-611: Is made of a large piece of fragrant wood identified as agarwood. The source for this piece of wood is claimed to be from Pursat, Cambodia (based on the smell of the wood). The famous piece of wood still remains in Japan today and is showcased less than 10 times per century at the Nara National Museum . Agarwood is highly revered in Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese Folk Religion and Islam. Starting in 1580 after Nguyễn Hoàng took control over

1955-604: Is of the Gyrinops walla species. Overharvesting and habitat loss threatens some populations of agarwood-producing species. Concern over the impact of the global demand for agarwood has thus led to the inclusion of the main taxa on CITES Appendix II, which requires that international trade in agarwood be monitored. Monitoring is conducted by Cambridge-based TRAFFIC (a joint WWF and IUCN programme). CITES also provides that international trade in agarwood be subject to controls designed to ensure that harvest and exports are not to

2040-463: Is still frequently used in Taiwan, the tael is only used for precious metals and herbal medicines. The Thai equivalent of the tael is known as the tamlueng , a term derived from Khmer . It was used as a unit of currency equal to four baht ; nowadays, as a unit of weight it is fixed at 60 grams. In French Indochina , the colonial administration fixed the tael ( lạng ) as 100 g, which

2125-545: Is strictly controlled by requiring an import permit and export permit to be granted by the relevant Management Authorities in each country before the trade occurs. Notable taxa listed in Appendix I include the red panda ( Ailurus fulgens ), western gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla ), the chimpanzee species ( Pan spp. ), tigers ( Panthera tigris sp.), Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ), snow leopard ( Panthera uncia ), red-shanked douc ( Pygathrix nemaeus ), some populations of African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana ), and

2210-592: Is the pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana ), a ruminant native to North America. Its Mexican population is listed in Appendix I, but its U.S. and Canadian populations are not listed (though certain U.S. populations in Arizona are nonetheless protected under other domestic legislation, in this case the Endangered Species Act ). Taxa are proposed for inclusion, amendment or deletion in Appendices I and II at meetings of

2295-693: Is to inoculate trees with the fungus. It produces a "damage sap" and is referred to as "fake" aloes/agar wood. Oud oil can be distilled from agar wood using steam; the total yield of oil for 70 kg of wood will not exceed 20 ml. The composition of agarwood oil is exceedingly complex with more than 150 chemical compounds identified. At least 70 of these are terpenoids which come in the form of sesquiterpenes and chromones ; no monoterpenes have been detected at all. Other common classes of compounds include agarofurans , cadinanes , eudesmanes , valencanes and eremophilanes , guaianes , prezizanes , vetispiranes , simple volatile aromatic compounds as well as

2380-616: Is to this day still used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine where it goes by the name of Chén Xiāng - 沉香 - Literally meaning 'sinking fragrance'. Its earliest recorded mention is from the Miscellaneous Records of Famous Physicians, 名医别录 , Ming Yi Bie Lu, ascribed to the author Táo Hǒng-Jǐng c.420-589. There are seventeen species in the genus Aquilaria , large evergreens native to southeast Asia and south asia , of which nine are known to produce agar wood. Agarwood can in theory be produced from all members, but until recently it

2465-564: The Arab world , and in Arab culture , where it is used as a traditional aromatic and perfume in many forms. Oud is also one of the reasons why the Arab region developed trade routes in ancient times. Popular amongst Muslims , it has been traditionally used in Mosques where the incense chips are burned. The following species of Aquilaria produce agarwood: * Sri Lankan agarwood is known as Walla Patta and

2550-602: The Canton tael weighed 37.5 grams (1.21 ozt), the Convention or Shanghai tael was 33.9 grams (1.09 ozt), and the Haiguan ( 海關 ; hǎiguān ; 'customs') tael 37.8 grams (1.22 ozt). The conversion rates between various common taels were well known. In the year 1933 the government of the Republic of China abolished the tael and completely replaced it with the yuan in

2635-592: The Convention on Biological Diversity ), although this has been changing (see Nile crocodile , African elephant , South African white rhino case studies in Hutton and Dickinson 2000). It does not explicitly address market demand. In fact, CITES listings have been demonstrated to increase financial speculation in certain markets for high value species. Funding does not provide for increased on-the-ground enforcement (it must apply for bilateral aid for most projects of this nature). There has been increasing willingness within

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2720-524: The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora , also known as the Washington Convention ) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade. It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The convention

2805-544: The Dravidian languages, probably from Tamil அகில் (akil). Agarwood is known under many names in different cultures: The odour of agarwood is complex and pleasing, with few or no similar natural analogues. In the perfume state, the scent is mainly distinguished by a combination of "oriental-woody" and "very soft fruity-floral" notes. The incense smoke is also characterised by a "sweet-balsamic" note and "shades of vanilla and musk" and amber (not to be confused with ambergris ). As

2890-605: The Holy See is also not a member. The Faroe Islands , an autonomous region in the Kingdom of Denmark , is also treated as a non-Party to CITES (both the Danish mainland and Greenland are part of CITES). An amendment to the text of the convention, known as the Gaborone Amendment allows regional economic integration organizations (REIO), such as the European Union , to have the status of

2975-559: The Mandarin pronunciation liǎng . The phrase "half a catty, eight taels" ( Chinese : 半斤八兩 , bàn jīn, bā liǎng ) is still used to mean two options are exactly equivalent, similar to the English "six of one, half a dozen of the other". In China, there were many different weighting standards of tael depending on the region or type of trade. In general the silver tael weighed around 40 grams (1.3 ozt). The most common government measure

3060-480: The chambered nautilus ( Nautilus pompilius ), all stony corals ( Scleractinia spp.), Jungle cat ( Felis chaus ) and American ginseng ( Panax quinquefolius ). Appendix III species are those that are protected in at least one country, and that country has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade. Any trade in Appendix III species standardly requires a CITES export permit (if sourced from

3145-456: The monkey puzzle tree ( Araucaria araucana ). Appendix II taxa are those that are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival. Appendix II taxa may also include species similar in appearance to species already listed in the Appendices. The vast majority of taxa listed under CITES are listed in Appendix II. Any trade in Appendix II taxa standardly requires

3230-511: The Appendices may be proposed for addition, change of Appendix, or de-listing (i.e., deletion) by any Party, whether or not it is a range State and changes may be made despite objections by range States if there is sufficient (2/3 majority) support for the listing. Species listings are made at the Conference of Parties. Upon acceding to the Convention or within 90 days of a species listing being amended, Parties may make reservations. In these cases,

3315-763: The CITES system in each country. Management Authorities are advised by one or more Scientific Authorities on the effects of trade of the specimen on the status of CITES-listed species. CITES permits and certificates must be presented to relevant border authorities in each country in order to authorise the trade. Each party must enact their own domestic legislation to bring the provisions of CITES into effect in their territories. Parties may choose to take stricter domestic measures than CITES provides (for example by requiring permits/certificates in cases where they would not normally be needed or by prohibiting trade in some specimens). Over 40,900 species, subspecies and populations are protected under CITES. Each protected taxa or population

3400-531: The CITES website. Amendments to the Convention must be supported by a two-thirds majority who are "present and voting" and can be made during an extraordinary meeting of the COP if one-third of the Parties are interested in such a meeting. The Gaborone Amendment (1983) allows regional economic blocs to accede to the treaty. Trade with non-Party states is allowed, although permits and certificates are recommended to be issued by exporters and sought by importers. Species in

3485-515: The China's main waterways and its coastal areas, these treaty ports would fundamentally change both the monetary system of China as well as its banking system , these changes were introduced by the establishment of European and American merchant houses and later banks that would engage in the Chinese money exchange and trade finance. Between the years 1840 and 1900, 1 market tael was worth 1.38 Spanish dollars . Various Western banking companies,

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3570-610: The Chinese Empire, these rules and regulations were all stipulated in various trade treaties that were imposed on the Qing by the Western colonial powers. Because these changes were implemented during the height of the Taiping Rebellion , the Western powers had managed to take over the complete administration of the Qing's maritime customs from the imperial Chinese governmental bureaucracy. The Imperial Maritime Customs Service developed

3655-406: The Conference of the Parties (CoP), which are held approximately once every three years. Amendments to listing in Appendix III may be made unilaterally by individual parties. Appendix I taxa are those that are threatened with extinction and to which the highest level of CITES protection is afforded. Commercial trade in wild-sourced specimens of these taxa is not permitted and non-commercial trade

3740-416: The Convention allows for certain exceptions to the general trade requirements described above. CITES provides for a special process for specimens that were acquired before the provisions of the Convention applied to that specimen. These are known as "pre-Convention" specimens and must be granted a CITES pre-Convention certificate before the trade occurs. Only specimens legally acquired before the date on which

3825-503: The Haikwan tael (海關兩), this new form of measurement was an abstract unit of silver tael that would become the nationwide standard unit of account in silver for any form of Customs tax. The Haikwan tael was preferred over the Kuping tael (庫平兩) by many merchants across China, this was because the units of the Kuping tael varied often to the advantage of imperial tax collectors, this form of corruption

3910-481: The Parties to allow for trade in products from well-managed populations. For instance, sales of the South African white rhino have generated revenues that helped pay for protection. Listing the species on Appendix I increased the price of rhino horn (which fueled more poaching ), but the species survived wherever there was adequate on-the-ground protection. Thus field protection may be the primary mechanism that saved

3995-654: The Party time to respond to the allegations and may provide technical assistance to prevent further infractions. Other actions the Convention itself does not provide for but that derive from subsequent COP resolutions may be taken against the offending Party. These include: Bilateral sanctions have been imposed on the basis of national legislation (e.g. the USA used certification under the Pelly Amendment to get Japan to revoke its reservation to hawksbill turtle products in 1991, thus reducing

4080-462: The Secretary-General of CITES is Ivonne Higuero . CITES is one of the largest and oldest conservation and sustainable use agreements in existence. There are three working languages of the Convention (English, French and Spanish) in which all documents are made available. Participation is voluntary and countries that have agreed to be bound by the convention are known as Parties. Although CITES

4165-613: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [3] By design, CITES regulates and monitors trade in the manner of a " negative list " such that trade in all species is permitted and unregulated unless the species in question appears on the Appendices or looks very much like one of those taxa. Then and only then, trade is regulated or constrained. Because the remit of the Convention covers millions of species of plants and animals, and tens of thousands of these taxa are potentially of economic value, in practice this negative list approach effectively forces CITES signatories to expend limited resources on just

4250-509: The US and other countries. Taels Tael ( / ˈ t eɪ l / ), or liang , also known as the tahil and by other names , can refer to any one of several weight measures used in East and Southeast Asia . It usually refers to the Chinese tael, a part of the Chinese system of weights and currency . The Chinese tael was standardized to 50 grams in 1959. In Hong Kong and Singapore , it

4335-541: The amendment. At that time it entered into force only for those States that had accepted the amendment. The amended text of the convention will apply automatically to any State that becomes a Party after 29 November 2013. For States that became party to the convention before that date and have not accepted the amendment, it will enter into force 60 days after they accept it. CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of listed taxa to controls as they move across international borders. CITES specimens can include

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4420-506: The case of commercial trade of Appendix I taxa, captive bred or artificially propagated specimens may be traded as if they were Appendix II. This reduces the permit requirements from two permits (import/export) to one (export only). In the case of non-commercial trade, specimens may be traded with a certificate of captive breeding/artificial propagation issued by the Management Authority of the state of export in lieu of standard permits. Standard CITES permit and certificates are not required for

4505-566: The central provinces of modern Vietnam, he encouraged trade with other countries, specifically China and Japan. Agarwood was exported in three varieties: Calambac (kỳ nam in Vietnamese), trầm hương (very similar but slightly harder and slightly more abundant), and agarwood proper. A pound of Calambac bought in Hội An for 15 taels could be sold in Nagasaki for 600 taels. The Nguyễn Lords soon established

4590-530: The convention has 184 parties, including 183 states and the European Union. The CITES Convention includes provisions and rules for trade with non-Parties. All member states of the United Nations are party to the treaty, with the exception of North Korea , Federated States of Micronesia , Haiti , Kiribati , Marshall Islands , Nauru , South Sudan , East Timor , Turkmenistan , and Tuvalu . UN observer

4675-456: The country that listed the species) or a certificate of origin (from any other country) to be granted before the trade occurs. Examples of species listed on Appendix III and the countries that listed them are the Hoffmann's two-toed sloth ( Choloepus hoffmanni ) by Costa Rica, sitatunga ( Tragelaphus spekii ) by Ghana and African civet ( Civettictis civetta ) by Botswana. Under Article VII,

4760-931: The detriment of the survival of the species in the wild. In addition, agarwood plantations have been established in a number of countries, and reintroduced into countries such as Malaysia and Sri Lanka as commercial plantation crops. The success of these plantations depends on the stimulation of agarwood production in the trees. Numerous inoculation techniques have been developed, with varying degrees of success. Snelder, Denyse J.; Lasco, Rodel D. (29 September 2008). Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services: Lessons from Asia . シュプリンガー・ジャパン株式会社. p. 248 ff. ISBN   978-1-4020-8260-3 . Retrieved 8 October 2010 . Jung, Dr. Dinah (1 January 2013). The cultural biography of agarwood (PDF) . University of Heidelberg: HeiDOK: Journal article: JRAS. pp. 103–125 . Retrieved 30 October 2016 . CITES CITES (shorter name for

4845-497: The focus changed to products demanded there, particularly those used for luxury goods such as elephant ivory or rhinoceros horn. As of 2022, CITES has expanded to include thousands of species previously considered unremarkable and in no danger of extinction such as manta rays or pangolins . The text of the convention was finalized at a meeting of representatives of 80 countries in Washington, D.C. , United States, on 3 March 1973. It

4930-614: The largest of which were the HSBC , and later Japanese banking companies started to begin to accept deposits. They would issue banknotes which were convertible into silver; these banknotes were popularized among the Chinese public that resided in the treaty ports. An important development during this era was the establishment of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service . This agency was placed in charge of collecting transit taxes for traded goods that were shipped both in and out of

5015-486: The late Tang dynasty , and 660.8 yuan RMB in the mid Ming dynasty . As of February 2024 the price of silver is about 254 yuan RMB/tael of 50 g. The tael is still in use as a weight measurement in a number of countries though usually only in limited contexts. In English-speaking countries, measurement scales that support Tael as a unit will typically abbreviate it as "tl". China's standard market tael (Chinese: 市两 ; pinyin: shìliǎng ) of 31.25 g

5100-645: The latest one was held in Veracruz , Mexico , in May 2014. A current list of upcoming meetings appears on the CITES calendar. At the seventeenth Conference of the Parties (CoP 17), Namibia and Zimbabwe introduced proposals to amend their listing of elephant populations in Appendix II. Instead, they wished to establish controlled trade in all elephant specimens, including ivory. They argue that revenue from regulated trade could be used for elephant conservation and rural communities' development. However, both proposals were opposed by

5185-409: The marine environment not under the jurisdiction of any state). The CITES definition of "trade" does not require a financial transaction to be occurring. All trade in specimens of species covered by CITES must be authorized through a system of permits and certificates prior to the trade taking place. CITES permits and certificates are issued by one or more Management Authorities in charge of administering

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5270-650: The name such as "tay" or "taes" derive from the Portuguese plural of tael, taeis . Tahil ( / ˈ t ɑː h ɪ l / in Singaporean English ) is used in Malay and English today when referring to the weight in Malaysia , Singapore , and Brunei , where it is still used in some contexts especially related to the significant Overseas Chinese population. In Chinese, tael is written 兩 (simplified as 两 ) and has

5355-484: The non-commercial loan, donation or exchange between scientific or forensic institutions that have been registered by a Management Authority of their State. Consignments containing the specimens must carry a label issued or approved by that Management Authority (in some cases Customs Declaration labels may be used). Specimens that may be included under this provision include museum, herbarium, diagnostic and forensic research specimens. Registered institutions are listed on

5440-438: The other units of the silver tael that existed as a form of intermediary income for local government tax collection, these surcharges were added to local taels as a form of corruption and these taxes never reached the imperial government under the traditional fiscal regime. Near the end of the Qing dynasty, one dìng (sycee, or yuanbao ) is about 50 taels. The local tael took precedence over any central measure. Thus,

5525-424: The party is treated as being a state that is not a Party to CITES with respect to trade in the species concerned. Notable reservations include those by Iceland , Japan , and Norway on various baleen whale species and those on Falconiformes by Saudi Arabia. As of 2002, 50% of Parties lacked one or more of the four major CITES requirements - designation of Management and Scientific Authorities; laws prohibiting

5610-498: The population, but it is likely that field protection would not have been increased without CITES protection. In another instance, the United States initially stopped exports of bobcat and lynx hides in 1977 when it first implemented CITES for lack of data to support no detriment findings. [1] However, in this Federal Register notice, issued by William Yancey Brown , the U.S. Endangered Species Scientific Authority (ESSA) established

5695-538: The review burden for member states and the Secretariat, and also preventing inadvertent legal trade threats to poorly known species. Specific weaknesses in the text include: it does not stipulate guidelines for the 'non-detriment' finding required of national Scientific Authorities; non-detriment findings require copious amounts of information; the 'household effects' clause is often not rigid enough/specific enough to prevent CITES violations by means of this Article (VII); non-reporting from Parties means Secretariat monitoring

5780-709: The species concerned was first included in the Appendices qualify for this exemption. CITES provides that the standard permit/certificate requirements for trade in CITES specimens do not generally apply if a specimen is a personal or household effect. However there are a number of situations where permits/certificates for personal or household effects are required and some countries choose to take stricter domestic measures by requiring permits/certificates for some or all personal or household effects. CITES allows trade in specimens to follow special procedures if Management Authorities are satisfied that they are sourced from captive bred animals or artificially propagated plants. In

5865-467: The species, geographic location, its branch, trunk and root origin, length of time since infection, and methods of harvesting and processing. Agarwood is one of the most expensive woods in the world, along with African blackwood , sandalwood , pink ivory and ebony . First-grade agarwood is one of the most expensive natural raw materials in the world, with 2010 prices for superior pure material as high as US$ 100,000/kg, although in practice adulteration of

5950-522: The tael is approximated using special tael-sized ladles. Other items sold in taels include the shengjian mantou and the xiaolongbao , both small bao buns commonly sold in Shanghai. In these cases, one tael is traditionally four and eight buns respectively. The tael is a legal weight measure in Hong Kong , and is still in active use. In Hong Kong, one tael is 37.799364167 g, and in ordinance 22 of 1884

6035-665: The third century CE in ancient Viet Nam, the Chinese chronicle Nan zhou yi wu zhi (Strange things from the South) written by Wa Zhen of the Eastern Wu Dynasty mentioned agarwood produced in the Rinan commandery, now Central Vietnam , and how people collected it in the mountains. During the sixth century CE in Japan, in the recordings of the Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan) the second oldest book of classical Japanese history, mention

6120-438: The trade in violation of CITES; penalties for such trade and laws providing for the confiscation of specimens. Although the Convention itself does not provide for arbitration or dispute in the case of noncompliance, 36 years of CITES in practice has resulted in several strategies to deal with infractions by Parties. The Secretariat, when informed of an infraction by a Party, will notify all other parties. The Secretariat will give

6205-517: The volume of its exports). Infractions may include negligence with respect to permit issuing, excessive trade, lax enforcement, and failing to produce annual reports (the most common). General limitations about the structure and philosophy of CITES include: by design and intent it focuses on trade at the species level and does not address habitat loss, ecosystem approaches to conservation, or poverty; it seeks to prevent unsustainable use rather than promote sustainable use (which generally conflicts with

6290-526: The wildlife trade monitoring network and Parties); more emphasis on enforcement-including a technical committee enforcement officer; the development of CITES Action Plans (akin to Biodiversity Action Plans related to the Convention on Biological Diversity ) including: designation of Scientific/Management Authorities and national enforcement strategies; incentives for reporting and timelines for both Action Plans and reporting. CITES would benefit from access to Global Environment Facility (GEF), funds-although this

6375-459: The wood and oil is common, allowing for prices as low as US$ 100/kg. A wide range of qualities and products come to market, varying in quality with geographical location, botanical species, the age of the specific tree, cultural deposition and the section of the tree where the piece of agarwood stems from. As of 2013 the global market for agarwood had an estimated value of US$ 6 to 8 billion and was growing rapidly. The word ultimately comes from one of

6460-527: The year 1840 this official exchange rate was double to 2,000 wén to 1 tael. During the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor , the government of the Qing dynasty was forced to re-introduce paper money , among the paper money it produced were the Hubu Guanpiao (戶部官票) silver notes that were denominated in taels. The forced opening of China during the Qing dynasty created a number of treaty ports alongside

6545-536: Was $ 160 billion annually. In 2009 the estimated value almost doubled to $ 300 billion. Additional information about the documented trade can be extracted through queries on the CITES website . The Conference of the Parties (CoP) is held once every three years. The location of the next CoP is chosen at the close of each CoP by a secret ballot vote. The CITES Committees (Animals Committee, Plants Committee and Standing Committee) hold meetings during each year that does not have

6630-477: Was an extra source of income for government bureaucrats at the expense of traders. The Haikwan tael unit was completely uniform, it was very carefully defined, and its creation had been negotiated among the various colonial powers and the government of the Qing dynasty. The Haikwan tael was on average 5% to 10% larger than the various local tael units that had existed in China, this was done as it deliberately excluded any form of extra surcharges which were embedded in

6715-447: Was modified by the People's Republic of China in 1959. The new market tael was 50 g or 1 ⁄ 10 catty (500 g) to make it compatible with metric measures. (see Chinese unit for details.) In Shanghai, silver is still traded in taels. Some foodstuffs in China are sold in units also called "taels", but which do not necessarily weigh one tael. For cooked rice, the weight of

6800-416: Was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975. Its aim is to ensure that international trade (import/export) in specimens of animals and plants included under CITES does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild. This is achieved via a system of permits and certificates. CITES affords varying degrees of protection to more than 38,000 species . As of April 2022 ,

6885-462: Was primarily produced from A. malaccensis ( A. agallocha and A. secundaria are synonyms for A. malaccensis ). A. crassna and A. sinensis are the other two members of the genus that are commonly harvested. The gyrinops tree can also produce agarwood. Agar wood forms in the trunk and roots of trees that have been penetrated by an Ambrosia beetle insect feeding on wood and oily resin, Dinoplatypus chevrolati . The tree may then be infected by

6970-446: Was still used in Qing dynasty coinage as the basis of the silver currency and sycee remained in use until the end of the dynasty in 1911. Common weights were 50, 10, 5 and one tael. Before the year 1840 the government of the Qing dynasty had set the official exchange rate between silver sycees and copper-alloy cash coins was set at 1,000 wén for 1 tael of silver before 1820, but after

7055-590: Was the Kuping ( 庫平 ; kùpíng ; 'treasury standard') tael, weighing 37.5 grams (1.21 ozt). A common commercial weight, the Caoping ( 漕平 ; cáopíng ; 'canal shipping standard') tael weighed 36.7 grams (1.18 ozt) of marginally less pure silver. As in China, other parts of East Asia such as Japan and Korea have also used the tael ( Japanese : 両 ; rōmaji : ryō ; Korean : 량/냥 (兩) ; romaja : nyang/ryang ) as both

7140-406: Was then open for signature until 31 December 1974. It entered into force after the 10th ratification by a signatory country, on 1 July 1975. Countries that signed the Convention become Parties by ratifying, accepting or approving it. By the end of 2003, all signatory countries had become Parties. States that were not signatories may become Parties by acceding to the convention. As of August 2022 ,

7225-575: Was used to freshen the breath when chewed or as a decoction held in the mouth. He also writes that a root extract was used to treat stomach complaints and dysentery as well as pains of the lungs and liver. Agarwood's use as a medicinal product was also recorded in the Sahih Muslim , which dates back to approximately the ninth century, and in the Ayurvedic medicinal text the Susruta Samhita . As early as

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