MODEL STOCK DECLARATION

Voluntary stock declaration

The stock declaration is not a CITES obligation, but a facility offered to companies by CITES management authorities. This procedure was introduced at Cop14 following the 1st listing of Pernambuco, and has since been applied to each listing of a species in the CITES Appendices. This was the case, for example, for rosehips (dalbergia sauf nigra) at Cop17.

About Ipé wood

The effective date of thelisting of Ipés in Appendix II of CITES is set for november 25, 2024. On this page, you will find an information note designed to provide musical instrument manufacturers and their wood suppliers with the information they need to assess whether they should declare any stocks of these woods they may be holding. (Page reserved for IPCI members only).

Why a voluntary stock declaration?

Timber acquired before a species was listed in CITES was sometimes purchased by professionals without the purchase invoices mentioning the scientific names of the species concerned. What's more, these stocks were frequently purchased from predecessors without the documents drawn up on that occasion detailing the species of these woods, which was not problematic in a context of trade not regulated by CITES.

This situation places bona fide professionals in a delicate position, as it is difficult, if not impossible, for them to prove the legality of their stocks of newly CITES-listed species. This creates considerable legal uncertainty with regard to the requirements of these regulations.

The date of entry into force of a species' CITES listing represents a unique opportunity to enable professionals to subsequently carry out their activities under conditions of normal security, since timber stocks acquired before the listing date are deemed pre-Convention by definition. It is therefore essential to seize this opportunity.

This approach had already been adopted for the voluntary declaration of pernambuco stocks in 2007, following the listing of this species in Appendix II of CITES.

Finally, it should be noted that this stock declaration would take on even greater importance if, in the near future, certain species already listed were to be transferred to Appendix I. But then, of course, it would be too late to obtain recognition of the pre-Convention* status of the stocks concerned.

*Pre-Convention pre-Convention specimens are those acquired before the provisions of the Convention apply to them. The date from which the provisions of the Convention apply to a specimen is the date on which the species concerned was first included in the Appendices.

When to file a voluntary inventory declaration and to whom?

You should submit your stock declaration before the effective date of the 1st listing of the species in the CITES Appendices.

When the listing of a species is decided at a CoP, the effective date is set 90 days after the CoP. Vou therefore have 90 days from the end of the CoP to declare your stock.

Who to send your stock declaration to ? It should be sent to the regional CITES authority (DREAL/DRIEE/DEA) see contact details

Voluntary stock declaration template