Submitted by daniel.assefa on Fri, 11/11/2022 - 11:24

Terms and Conditions of Use of the CITES Illegal Trade Database 

Data Use and Accuracy 

Data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Illegal Trade Database must be treated as official governmental data with a restricted and confidential classification. Data extracted from the CITES Illegal Trade Database and used must be securely managed and stored in accordance with applicable national governmental policies and directives governing the use and storage of such data. For security reasons, data must be deleted from any devices when no longer needed.

In accordance with CITES Resolution Conf. 11.17 (Rev. CoP 19) on National reports, the following Users have access to the data in the CITES Illegal Trade Database unless specified by the Party submitting the data (the reporting Party): Parties (users nominated by Parties can be from the CITES Management Authority or any other national governmental authority responsible for wildlife law enforcement) and International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) partner organizations. ICCWC partner organizations include the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and the World Customs Organization.

Users accessing the CITES Illegal Trade Database and using data from the database agree to only use this data to conduct research and analysis in accordance with the aforementioned Resolution: The Party who submitted the data can use their data contained in the CITES Illegal Trade Database for any purpose (in this context, the reporting Party is considered to be the owner of the data). Users from other Parties may only use the data for research and analysis of wildlife and forest crime as it affects them. Members of ICCWC may only use the data for ICCWC global research and analysis studies on wildlife and forest crime.

The data remains the property of the reporting Party. Users may not share or pass on the data to third parties without explicit consent of the reporting Party; the data must never be used for commercial purposes.

The User of the data must obtain prior informed consent from the reporting Party, should the need arise to publish such data or make it available in the public domain. In such cases, proof that prior consent was obtained must be submitted to the CITES Secretariat (info@cites.org). Any alterations or aggregations made to or using data from the CITES Illegal Trade Database and intended for publication, dissemination, or placement in the public domain, must be accompanied by a statement from the author(s), clearly describing the nature of any alterations effected.

The CITES Secretariat and the UNODC strive for the highest level of accuracy and are committed to promptly correcting any errors. The two organizations do not guarantee or make any express or implied representations regarding the accuracy, reliability, correctness, fitness for use for a particular purpose, or otherwise, whatsoever, of any of the data in the CITES Illegal Trade Database.

The UNODC periodically incorporates, without notice, revisions, updates, and improvements to the   content of this website but undertakes no obligation to do so, timeously or at all. 

Cost of data from the CITES Illegal Trade Database

Data from the CITES Illegal Trade Database is made available free of charge, but in exceptional cases and if requested, the CITES Secretariat or UNODC may need to recover staff costs for handling complicated data queries.

Country or Area Designations

The designations employed and the presentation of the material within the CITES Illegal Trade Database do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontier or boundaries. 

Recommended Citation

Any data from the CITES Illegal Trade Database used in papers, reports, publications or any other output will be given proper acknowledgement.

The following citation should be used: [CITES Illegal Trade Database] [Date accessed]

Translations

If a User creates a translation of this work, please add the following disclaimer along with the citation:

This translation was not created by the CITES Secretariat or UNODC and should not be considered an official UN translation. The United Nations shall not be liable for any content or error in this translation.

No Liability in Respect of Use

Under no circumstances shall the United Nations be liable for any loss, damage, liability or expense incurred or suffered that is claimed to have resulted from the use of this Site, including, without limitation, any fault, error, omission, interruption or delay with respect thereto. The use of this Site is at the User’s sole risk. Under no circumstances, including but not limited to negligence, shall the United Nations or its affiliates be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, even if the United Nations has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Neither the United Nations nor its affiliates, nor any of their respective agents, employees, information providers or content providers, shall be liable to any User or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, alteration of or use of any content herein, or for its timeliness or completeness, nor shall they be liable for any failure of performance, computer virus or communication line failure, regardless of cause, or for any damages resulting therefrom.

This Platform may contain links and references to third-party websites. The linked sites are not under the control of the United Nations, and the United Nations is not responsible for the content of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. The United Nations provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of a link or reference does not imply the endorsement of the linked site by the United Nations.

The CITES Secretariat reserves the right to deny in its sole discretion any user access to this Platform or any portion thereof without notice. In the event of non-compliance with the terms and conditions applicable to the access and use of data from the CITES Illegal Trade Database, or inappropriate use of the data, access to the database can be withdrawn and the user will be informed about the termination.

Security

Any confidential information provided to the Platform by users is held with the utmost care and security and is not used in any manner or in any additional site-specific policies without users' explicit consent. 

Notification of Amendments

The CITES Secretariat and UNODC reserve the right to amend this policy at their own discretion. Notifications of any significant amendment will be posted on this page.