CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon addressed the 71st Annual General meeting of the Geneva based International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Miami on 8 June. His address to over 1,000 delegates, including over 150 airline CEOs, focused on how the air transport sector can help combat illegal trade in wildlife. The speech was recorded and is available by clicking here.

At the same meeting, the IATA CEO Tony Tyler and CITES Secretary General signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on both reducing illegal trade in wildlife and their products and on ensuring the safe and secure transport of wildlife that is legally traded.

The MOU, signed on 7 June, formalises ongoing cooperation between the two bodies on the implementation of standards and best practices such as IATA’s Live Animals and Perishable Cargo regulations and the CITES Guidelines for the Non-Air Transport of Live Wild Animals and Plants. IATA and CITES will also support joint training and communications activities.

For more information: Yuan.Liu@cites.org