Cambridge, Geneva, 15th October 2020 — ETIS Online, a new online
platform for the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) was launched
today by TRAFFIC.
The new website, named ETIS Online, was produced following a request
made at the 69th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee in 2017. The
site aims to bolster the collection of data on seizures involving
elephant specimens and access to such data by submitting Parties. The
new functionalities will facilitate enriching data available for
analysis to inform international policy relating to preventing and
addressing illegal ivory trade.
The new platform allows authorized governmental representatives to
access and more easily submit records on elephant specimen seizures in
their respective countries. For example, Parties can view and download
their data that are used in ETIS analyses, which details the number and
weight of seizures made within the country as well as seizures in which
their country was implicated by other Parties.Logo of the Elephant Trade
Information System (ETIS)
ETIS is a database holding almost 30,000 records of seizures or
confiscations of elephant ivory and other elephant specimens, which have
been reported since 1989 – for a total of over 750 tonnes of raw ivory
equivalent to date.
Mandated by CITES Parties, ETIS was established in 1998 and is managed
by TRAFFIC on behalf of the CITES Secretariat, and in consultation with
the MIKE-ETIS Technical Advisory Group. The monitoring system was
designed to measure and record levels and trends of illegal trade in
elephant specimens and any changes in these levels and trends. TRAFFIC
has produced comprehensive analyses based on these records, which have
been used to inform decisions by CITES Parties and Governing Bodies.
“CITES welcomes the new ETIS Online platform, where Parties can capture
and validate elephant specimen seizure data. Better data means better
insights, which will serve to strengthen decision-making on matters
concerning elephant conservation and the enforcement responses needed to
prevent, detect and address illegal ivory trade,” said Ivonne Higuero,
Secretary-General of CITES.
“ETIS Online increases the efficiency of elephant seizure data
collection and analysis, which we hope will strengthen the evidence base
for future CITES action on ivory trade challenges,” said Steven Broad,
Executive Director of TRAFFIC.
Together with the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE)
Programme, ETIS is one of the key monitoring and reporting systems
concerning elephants recognized under CITES.
Since 1998, ETIS analysis results helped to focus attention on countries
most affected by the illegal trade in ivory. It also currently serves as
the foundation for identifying Parties to participate in the CITES
National Ivory Action Plan (NIAP) process.
The NIAP is a practical tool that is being used by the Convention in a
number of its Parties to strengthen their controls of the trade in ivory
and ivory markets and help combat the illegal trade in ivory.
The development of ETIS Online was established under an initiative
funded under the United Kingdom’s Darwin Initiative programme.
Further improvements and expanded functionalities to ETIS Online have
been supported by the Governments of Belgium, Germany and the
Netherlands, the European Union and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Contact:
Richard Thomas, Head of Communications, TRAFFIC. +447921309176,
richard.thomas@traffic.org
Francisco Pérez, CITES Secretariat, +41 22 917 1447,
francisco.perezgonzalez@cites.org
https://www.cites.org/eng/CITES_TRAFFIC_launch_ETISonline_15102020
