What changed between the resolution motion and the adopted text

43. Supports the emphasis placed by the Strategic Vision on cooperation and on ensuring that Parties have the necessary financial means and capacities to implement the Convention; notes that the focus should align with and contribute to Goal D and Targets 20 and 21 of the Kunming-Montreal GBF on adequate financial resources, strengthened capacity-building, technical and scientific cooperation, as well as the best available data, information and knowledge;

One Health approach and role of CITES in reducing the risk of zoonotic disease emergence

44. Emphasises the crucial role of CITES in reducing the risks of pathogen spillover and the emergence of zoonotic diseases that are associated with international wildlife trade and that pose both ecological and public health risks; stresses the importance of a precautionary approach, in line with the One Health approach, that recognises the interconnectedness of animal, human and environmental health when assessing and strengthening the prevention of these risks;

45. Calls for the EU and all Parties to urgently adopt a resolution encouraging the application of a One Health approach to international wildlife trade under CITES; urges all Parties to apply the operational definition of One Health, as developed by the High-Level Expert Panel, in their national laws and in implementing the Convention;

46. Calls for CITES collaboration with national and international animal and public health authorities to develop strategies and action plans for safe, legal and traceable trade, disease risk identification, and secure transport of biological samples; welcomes the joint programme with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) addressing knowledge gaps and identifying practical solutions for reducing pathogen spillover risks in wildlife supply chains;

47. Recalls the World Health Organization, OIE and UN Environment Programme guidance calling on national authorities to suspend trade in live wild mammals for food or breeding purposes at traditional markets unless effective regulations and adequate risk assessments are in place; recalls the IPBES recommendations to remove species identified as posing a high risk of disease emergence from wildlife trade;

48. Notes with concern that significant quantities of domestic and wild animal meat continue to be smuggled into the EU, posing risks to animal and human health as well as to biodiversity; calls on the Commission and the Member States develop a coordinated EU response to this issue, including by establishing data collection systems on meat from domestic and wild animals;

49. Urges the EU and all other Parties to secure the welfare of live animals in breeding facilities and along the trade chain, recognising the scientific evidence indicating that inadequate welfare conditions in the holding, transport and trade of wildlife are linked to the emergence and transmission of diseases, and threaten both animal and human health;

50. Recognises the intensified interactions between humans, livestock and wildlife, driven in particular by land-use change, habitat loss and ecosystem fragmentation; emphasises that the challenges arising from these interactions can lead to conflict and increased transmission of zoonotic and livestock diseases, while negatively impacting biodiversity and animal welfare; calls on the Commission and the Member States to address these risks through integrated coexistence strategies, including habitat preservation, science-based wildlife conservation measures, preventive measures and awareness-raising, and to ensure that CITES implementation takes into account coexistence dynamics as part of broader conservation and public health efforts;

Strengthening the EU’s role in the global fight against wildlife trafficking

51. Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Member States to lead global efforts to end the commercial trade in endangered species and their parts;

52. Emphasises that concerns related to illegal wildlife trade should be systematically included in EU trade policy, including through bilateral agreements;

53. Expresses concern that ivory continues to be trafficked within the EU, despite amendments to Commission Regulation (EC) No 865/2006 and the revised guidance document on the EU regime governing trade in ivory; calls on the Commission and the Member States to replace this guidance document with legally binding legislation on this matter;

54. Emphasises that the absence of a common EU framework for welfare provisions on the breeding, keeping and placing on the market of pet animal species other than dogs and cats, along with divergent national rules, leads to inconsistencies, gaps in enforcement, confusion for consumers and, often, serious animal welfare consequences for species that are unsuitable to be kept as pets, as well as risks to biodiversity, human health and safety, and nature conservation; calls on the Commission to swiftly propose an EU-wide positive list of animals allowed to be kept or traded as pets, based on recommendations from the study on the necessity, added value and feasibility of such a list, while taking into account scientific risk assessments and ecological criteria;

55. Urges the Commission, in view of the future implementation of an EU-wide positive list of pets, to provide technical assistance and expertise to support non-EU countries in developing science-based positive lists for pet ownership, including guidance on species risk assessments, enforcement mechanisms and legislative frameworks;

56. Welcomes Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/130 of 28 January 2025 amending Regulation (EC) No 865/2006 to implement the requirements of CITES Resolution Conf. 12.10 (Rev. CoP15) regarding the registration of operations that breed specimens of animal species listed in Appendix I to the Convention in captivity for commercial purposes; urges the Commission to strictly monitor implementation and enforcement by Member States and calls for a timely transmission of registration of operations to the CITES Secretariat;

57. Urges the Commission and the Member States, in line with the EU action plan against wildlife trafficking, to apply increased scrutiny to the import of hunting trophies derived from CITES-listed species; calls for extending the requirements for import permits across hunting trophies listed in Annex B to Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97, unless scientifically proven otherwise;

58. Highlights the critical importance of establishing a detailed EU information system to tackle the issue of illicit wildlife trade; urges the Commission to expand existing regulations and tools, including TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System), in order to record and make publicly available data on the species, volume and origin of all imports to the EU of both CITES-listed and non-CITES-listed species to allow for better monitoring of trade, to identify trends and risks, and to inform future policies and decision-making;

59. Stresses that CITES CoP 20 could serve as an opportunity to identify the main countries and regions exporting wild animals, with a view to introducing tighter controls and encouraging them to adopt strict preventive measures against illegal export;

60. Welcomes the EU’s contribution to supporting efforts to combat wildlife trafficking globally; calls for the EU and its Member States to support the inclusion of a new paragraph in the 2025 UN General Assembly Resolution A/79/L.96 on tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife through the criminalisation of imports of any wildlife or wildlife produce acquired in contravention of national laws and to assist partner countries that are sources of wildlife and wildlife products, transit points and/or destinations for sellers and buyers;

EU action plan against wildlife trafficking

61. Acknowledges the progress made by the Member States, the Commission and other stakeholders; highlights the importance of the continued implementation of the action plan and the need to allocate adequate human and financial resources for its implementation; calls on the Member States to collect and provide data to measure and evaluate their progress;

62. Calls for the Member States to enhance the capacities of the competent national authorities, including prosecution and judiciary, to swiftly and effectively investigate and prosecute cases of wildlife trafficking, and to facilitate cooperation between relevant national authorities;

63. Stresses the importance of key EU agencies, Europol, Eurojust and the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) in tackling illegal wildlife trafficking; calls for adequate support in the next multiannual financial framework and the annual budgetary procedure to ensure appropriate resources and staff for these entities;

64. Recommends that the EU and its Member States criminalise the trade and keeping of illegally sourced wildlife, regardless of their listing status in the CITES Appendices; urges the Commission to use the results of the feasibility study on criminalisation of illegally sourced wildlife trade to present, as a matter of priority, relevant legislative proposals;

65. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the growing demand for live wildlife, as well as wildlife products, by implementing and supporting evidence-based demand reduction initiatives in EU Member States;

66. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to extend actions beyond the current scope of Objective 14 of the EU action plan against wildlife trafficking, to increase the capacity for wildlife rescue and rehabilitation for wildlife rescued from trafficking, through resources, funding and training, alongside national action plans to improve the management of confiscated live animals;

Organised crime, cybersecurity and confiscated animals

67. Insists that transnational wildlife crime be recognised by all Parties as a form of serious, organised and predicate crime, which in its gravest form should be recognised as ecocide; calls on all EU Member States to align their national legislation with the UNTOC definition of serious crime by ensuring that wildlife offences are treated as predicate offences appropriately punishable under their criminal codes;

68. Encourages the Member States to put in place dissuasive criminal measures against illegal activities of purchasing, trafficking and selling wild animals;

69. Acknowledges ongoing efforts to assess the need for the development of a protocol on environmental crime under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; stresses the importance of continued dialogue on this matter, with an emphasis on wildlife crime; recalls the need for the protocol to include a provision requiring Parties to criminalise the import and trade of wildlife taken illegally from their countries of origin;

70. Urges the Member States to establish cross-border cooperation, intelligence sharing and coordination with various relevant international authorities and institutions in order to combat the involvement of organised criminal groups in the illegal trade of wildlife species; highlights the necessity of investing in monitoring and analysing new developments in illegal wildlife markets and associated criminality;

71. Calls on the Commission to ensure coordination in the implementation of the Environmental Crime Directive, the Wildlife Trade Regulation and the revised EU action plan against wildlife trafficking and other relevant EU policies such as the Digital Services Act; calls on the Member States to transpose the Environmental Crime Directive and to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the directive by 21 May 2026;

72. Calls on the Member States to ensure and promote the consistent and transparent reporting of all seized or confiscated live animals to CITES, Europol and the countries of origin; calls on the Member States to enable seized and confiscated proceeds from offenders to be used to strengthen wildlife rescue and sanctuary capacities;

73. Expresses its concern over unresolved issues in the implementation of CITES Resolution Conf. 17.8 (Rev. CoP19) on the disposal of confiscated CITES-listed specimens; highlights the need for improved guidance on immediate handling, enforcer decision-making and appropriate placement options to prevent the re-entry of specimens into trade;

74. Expresses its concern about the surge in wildlife cybercrime; calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up efforts to combat it, including through the robust implementation and full enforcement of the Digital Services Act as well as strengthened international cooperation in order to identify and implement best practices and develop measures to tackle illegal online trade; urges the Commission to develop specific EU guidelines to address wildlife cybercrime in line with the provisions of the Digital Services Act, ensuring coordinated policies across Member States and fostering collaboration among all relevant stakeholders;

Amendments to the CITES Appendices

75. Expresses its strong support for the listing proposals submitted by the EU and its Member States to amend the Appendices to CITES;

76. Calls on the Member States to promote the upgrading of threatened genera and species from Appendix II to Appendix I of CITES following scientific assessment, in particular sharks (Selachii), seahorses (Hippocampus), tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus), and mico marmoset (Mico); urges the EU and its Member States to support proposals to list additional relevant shark species in Appendix II of CITES, in particular biologically vulnerable deep sea sharks such as the gulper shark;

77. Takes note of the notifications to the Parties to consult range states on a proposal to transfer the following species from Appendix II to Appendix I: Mobula spp. (manta and devil rays), Rhincodon typus (whale shark) and Carcharhinus longimanus (Oceanic whitetip shark) and calls on the Commission and the EU Member States to support these transfers;

78. Calls on the Member States to promote the full inclusion of threatened species, irrespective of their geographical distribution, in CITES Appendix I following scientific assessment, in particular elephants (Elephantidae), lions (Panthera leo) and rhinos (Rhinocerotidae);

79. Calls on the Member States to promote the inclusion of threatened species in the CITES Appendices following scientific assessment, in particular but not exclusively, the European hamster (Cricetus cricetus), the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), the northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) and the Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis);

80. Calls for the EU and all Parties to improve the regulation of international trade in amphibian species and to include in the CITES Appendices three Pelophylax species (Pelophylax epeiroticus, P. shqipericus and P. ridibundus);

81. Calls on the Member States to promote the inclusion, or upgrading, in the CITES Appendices of threatened genera and species of corals as well as species linked to rainforest deforestation or processing into tropical timber, following scientific assessment, in particular teak (Tectona grandis), ebony (Diospyros) and mahogany;

82. Urges the EU to assess the suitability of any proposal to downlist the peregrine falcon from Appendix I to Appendix II, in line with the criteria defined in Resolution Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP17), and to oppose such a proposal if these criteria are not met;

83. Calls for the EU and its Member States to support the inclusion, or uplisting, of species that are threatened by the exotic pet trade and to support listing proposals of threatened endemic species, as well as the prohibition of the export of live specimens if the capture or export of these species is prohibited by the national laws of the respective Party;

84. Regrets the increasing demand for swim bladders of Sciaenidae species; calls for actions to ensure that international trade does not jeopardise species survival or exacerbate risks to protected species caught incidentally; calls on the Parties to propose species of concern for inclusion in the Appendices where CITES criteria are met, and to ensure legal, traceable and biologically sustainable trade;

Species-specific matters

Aquatic species

85. Calls on the Member States, as well as all transit countries and countries raising and fattening eels in aquaculture, to strengthen cooperation and measures aimed at effectively combating illegal trade in eels and at dismantling criminal networks, and to dedicate sufficient resources to this end; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that a resolution on trade in specimens of Anguilla spp. is adopted at CoP20 as well as a listing of all remaining species of the genus in Appendix II alongside the European eel;

86. Stresses the vital role that sharks and rays play in maintaining the health of ocean ecosystems; warns that serious trade-related threats continue to put sharks and rays at risk of extinction, in particular deepwater sharks; calls for the EU and its Member States to support and co-sponsor CITES proposals and resolutions aimed at providing stronger protection for shark and ray species from unsustainable and illegal trade, as well as habitat degradation and pollution;

87. Encourages Parties to share non-detriment findings developed for shark and ray species; calls on Parties to take immediate action to address discrepancies in data on trade in products of CITES-listed sharks recorded in the CITES Trade Database and to improve compliance;

88. Highlights the persistent difficulties in identifying and documenting trade in live corals and coral rock; calls on Parties to support further work on species identification and traceability in coral trade; asks for a potential review of relevant provisions under Resolution Conf. 12.3 (Rev. CoP19) to address identification gaps;

89. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that a resolution on improving the conservation status of, and regulation of international trade in, croaker (Sciaenidae) species is adopted at CoP20;

90. Calls for the EU, one of the largest importers of marine ornamental fishes in terms of value, and all Parties to support measures to improve the conservation status of, and regulation of international trade in, marine ornamental fishes;

Big cats

91. Recognises that some big cat species are among the most endangered CITES-listed species, and that the conservation of, and regulation of trade in, CITES-listed big cat species faces multiple challenges; calls for adequate financial resources commensurate with these challenges; calls for the implementation of time-bound, country-specific conservation recommendations and for concrete financial conservation commitments for big cats;

92. Notes that Resolution Conf. 12.5 (Rev. CoP19) mandates Parties to provide information on Asian big cats to the CITES Secretariat; regrets the persistent lack of response from range states; calls for the EU and all Parties to adopt strong decisions related to Asian big cats in captivity at CoP20;

93. Is strongly concerned about the trade in live tigers and their body parts; deeply regrets the fact that EU wildlife trade regulations fail to prevent the trade in captive-bred tigers and their body parts;

94. Regrets the proposal to delete Decision 18.105 on Asian leopards despite ongoing illegal trade concerns; calls on the CITES Secretariat to undertake a detailed review of illegal trade in, and the conservation status of, Asian leopards and to present updated findings at CoP20; calls for a review of Resolution Conf. 10.14 (Rev. CoP19) to prevent overexploitation of the species;