CITES, whose full name is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, is a multilateral agreement signed in Washington in 1973. Its aim is to prevent wild species from being driven to extinction through international trade. The Convention covers not only live individuals but also parts and derivatives of a species; it is therefore one of the first things to check when sending a material of biological origin across borders.
Each party to the Convention designates a management authority and a scientific authority. The management authority issues permits; the scientific authority assesses whether trade will endanger the survival of the species. Thanks to this dual structure, decisions rest not only on administrative but also on biological criteria. Türkiye is also a party to the Convention and applies the same structure.
What do the three appendices cover?
| Appendix | Scope | Trade regime |
|---|---|---|
| Appendix I | Species threatened with extinction | International trade for commercial purposes is prohibited as a rule; exceptions are subject to strict permits |
| Appendix II | Species not currently threatened but that may become so unless trade is controlled | Possible with an export permit |
| Appendix III | Species protected within the borders of one party that has asked other parties for cooperation | A certificate of origin or a permit is required |
Listing is done at species or genus level; an entire order is not listed simply as "scorpions". Indeed, while some scorpion genera appear in the appendices, many species are entirely outside the lists. The assessment is therefore always based on the specific species name.
The lists are not fixed. At the conferences attended by the parties, new species may be added, and existing entries may be moved to another appendix or removed from the lists. An assessment obtained for a species is therefore not an indefinite guarantee but a statement of the situation on a particular date; in long-term commercial relationships, it is expected that its currency will be confirmed at regular intervals.
Is venom a derivative?
The Convention defines the concept of a specimen broadly, as a live or dead individual, its parts and derivatives obtained from them. Accordingly, venom obtained from a listed species is also covered and cannot be shipped without a permit. If the species is not listed, no CITES document is required; in that case, the legal framework of the shipment is determined by other areas of legislation.
In practice, uncertainty mostly arises over how far the derivative has been processed. Venom in crude or lyophilized form is regarded as an animal derivative of known origin. The answer to the question therefore depends not on how far the material has been processed but on whether the source species is listed.
One distinction should also be noted: CITES regulates international trade, not the taking of animals from the wild or their breeding. These two areas are subject to different legislation. In our country, the capture of scorpions from the wild is governed by a separate regulation, and the establishment permit for a facility engaged in closed-cycle breeding is also issued within this framework. Even if a species is not on the CITES lists, the national rules on production and collection remain in force.
The competent authority in Türkiye
In our country, assessments and correspondence under CITES are handled by the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Following the application made for the source species of our production facility, the General Directorate stated in its letter dated 30.07.2026 that the species is not listed in CITES Appendices I, II or III. For details of the source species, see the article on Androctonus turkiyensis; for the document's details, see the documents page.
What does being unlisted not remove?
Falling outside the scope of CITES does not mean that a shipment can be made without documents. The international transport of a highly toxic material also involves the following:
- Safety data sheet: The product's classification, transport information and emergency sections are provided with a current SDS.
- Transport classification: The UN number, class and packing group used for toxins from living sources are entered on the shipping documents; details are given in the article on UN 3462.
- Rules by mode of transport: Separate regulations apply to road, sea and air; packaging and labelling are carried out accordingly.
- Customs file: The invoice, origin, product description and any required permits must be complete; the process is covered in the article on the customs and shipping file.
- Legislation in the destination country: The importer's permit, notification and end-user declaration obligations in its own country should also be checked.
What does the buyer institution ask for?
A laboratory or purchasing department abroad usually wants to see three things before ordering: the identity of the species, the legal status of the facility and the product's classification information. When these three are provided together, the assessment on the import side is faster; incomplete details can leave the shipment waiting at customs. Our facility's establishment permit, business licence and CITES assessment are all documented.
Preparing the shipping file early matters not only for customs but also for the buyer's internal processes. Many universities and research centres obtain approval from their own occupational safety unit before accepting a material classed as dangerous goods into the laboratory, and for this approval they ask for an up-to-date file containing classification and transport information. If the documents are complete, the assessment can take hours instead of days.
To request sample documents or to ask about additional paperwork specific to your country, please use the contact page.
