What Is the Washington Convention (CITES)? Import/Export Rules and Required Documents, from Primary Sources

Hello, this is Ryuta Hamamoto from TIMEWELL.

A crocodile-leather bag you bought on a trip abroad gets stopped at customs when you fly home. Even within the single word "crocodile," some countries of origin or populations sit in a category where commercial international trade is prohibited in principle, so the item could never have been taken out lawfully in the first place. This is not some exotic edge case; it happens routinely in day-to-day practice. Behind it lies the Washington Convention, formally the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

When people hear "protection of wild fauna and flora," most assume it belongs to a different world from export control. In Japan, though, this convention is implemented through the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (the Foreign Exchange Act) and the trade control orders. Animals, plants, and their products are regulated within exactly the same legal framework that governs the export of weapons and advanced technology. For anyone handling imports and exports, this is anything but a distant concern.

Here I work through the basics — what the Washington Convention is — along with the differences between Appendices I through III, how the regulation is structured in Japan, the documents you actually need for import and export, the relationship with the Species Preservation Act, and the penalties for violations, all drawn from primary sources: the Ministry of the Environment, METI, Japan Customs, and the e-Gov law search. If you want to check first whether your own products might be caught up in any of this, our free export-control readiness check will surface the gaps in your current setup in a few minutes.

What the Washington Convention (CITES) is — how it came about, and the three appendices

The Washington Convention was adopted in Washington, D.C., in the United States on March 3, 1973, and entered into force on July 1, 1975. It is known by the acronym CITES, from the initials of its English name (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), while in Japan the common name "Washington Convention," after the place of adoption, has taken hold. Japan concluded the convention in 1980, and it entered into force for Japan on November 4, 1980. That effective date can also be confirmed in the supplementary provisions of the Export Trade Control Order, which record the enforcement date.

The aim of the convention is simple: to put a brake on cross-border trade itself so that wild fauna and flora at risk of extinction are not driven still closer to the edge by international commerce. To that end, the covered species are sorted into three appendices according to how high the extinction risk is and how strong the necessary controls are.

Let me clear up the first misconception right away. What the Washington Convention covers is not only "live animals." As the wording of row 36 of Appended Table 2 of the Export Trade Control Order confirms, the scope of regulation extends to parts of an individual, eggs, seeds, taxidermy specimens, worked products, and other derivatives. Ivory personal seals and crocodile-leather wallets, taxidermy, plant- and animal-derived raw materials used in traditional medicine, and even parts of ornamental plants can be covered, depending on the species. The assumption that "it's been processed, so it's fine" is a common gateway to trouble at customs.

Here are the differences between the three appendices, laid out in a single table down to what you need for import and export.

Category	Typical species	Commercial international trade	Required on the exporting country's side	Required at import into Japan (METI route)
Appendix I	Species at particularly high risk of extinction	Prohibited in principle (only for exceptional purposes such as scientific research)	CITES export permit of the exporting country	Import approval certificate from the Minister of METI (plus an import permit). Permits from both the exporting and importing countries are required
Appendix II	Species not currently at risk of extinction but requiring regulation	Permitted	CITES export permit of the exporting country (a re-export certificate for re-exports)	Prior confirmation document from the Minister of METI
Appendix III	Species that a listing country protects domestically and for which it seeks cooperation from other countries	Permitted	A CITES export permit if the listing country is the origin; otherwise a certificate of origin or similar	Prior confirmation document from the Minister of METI

Let me head off the second misconception, too. Appendix II is the "not at risk of extinction" category, but that does not mean you can buy, sell, import, or export freely. You need the exporting country's CITES export permit and, to import into Japan, a prior confirmation document. Appendix II is very much subject to regulation.

Note that which species appears in which appendix shifts through amendments at the Conference of the Parties (CoP). This article does not assert specific figures for the number of parties or the latest contents of the appendices; always confirm the current version through the official information of the Ministry of the Environment, METI, and Japan Customs. The point that the same species can be split between Appendix I and Appendix II depending on the country of origin or population is another thing that is easy to overlook in practice.

How it is regulated in Japan — the Foreign Exchange Act, the trade control orders, and two authorities

Because the Washington Convention is an agreement between states, it does not by itself directly bind domestic businesses or individuals. Giving effect to that agreement at home requires backing in domestic law. Japan implemented it through the Foreign Exchange Act, which governs the management of imports and exports, and its subordinate cabinet orders — the Export Trade Control Order and the Import Trade Control Order.

For exports, the basis is Article 2(1)(i) of the Export Trade Control Order and Appended Table 2. Row 36 of Appended Table 2 lists "animals or plants belonging to species listed in Appendix I or Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora," among other things, and anyone seeking to export these must obtain export approval from the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. In terms of the Foreign Exchange Act, the higher-level basis is Article 48(3), which sets out the export approval obligation for purposes such as performing treaty obligations. For imports, the operation runs from Article 52 of the Foreign Exchange Act (the import approval obligation) down to Article 3 of the Import Trade Control Order (import announcement) and Article 4 (import approval). Items covered by CITES divide into those for which an import approval certificate is required as "second-category approval items" of the import announcement, and those for which a prior confirmation document is required as prior confirmation items.

What often trips up practitioners here is that there is not just one authority. The management authority responsible for CITES procedures is METI for general imports and exports (other than items taken from the sea and the like), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) for items taken from the sea and the like. In addition, there is the role of the scientific authority, which provides scientific advice: MAFF for plants and aquatic animals, and the Ministry of the Environment for terrestrial animals. In other words, where you take your case depends on whether the item is an animal or a plant, and whether it is from the land or the sea. Unless you first work out which authority has jurisdiction over your item, you will stumble at the very entrance to the procedure. Because jurisdiction differs, confirm the specific procedures for items where MAFF is the management authority — such as those taken from the sea — individually against primary sources.

CITES aside, the items that require export approval are gathered in Appended Table 2 of the Export Trade Control Order. The full picture of Appended Table 2 and how to read it is organized in our practical guide to export-approval items (Appended Table 2), so if you want to check whether the cargo you handle is subject to approval, read that alongside this article.

The documents you actually need for import and export, by appendix

Now that the structure of the system is clear, let me translate it into what you actually need to prepare, appendix by appendix. This is where the most questions come up in practice.

Consider exporting from Japan. For species listed in Appendix I or II that fall under row 36 of Appended Table 2 of the Export Trade Control Order, you obtain export approval from the Minister of METI and then acquire a CITES export permit. Bear in mind that live individuals of Appendix I species and commercial transactions are not permitted in principle, so they are limited to exceptional purposes such as scientific research. Let me correct one more misconception here: when you export a species listed in Appendix III from Japan, it is in principle not subject to this export approval from the Minister of METI. For Appendix III, the operation under CITES relies on a certificate of origin or similar, depending on whether Japan is the listing country and on the origin. In short, "listed in an appendix" does not equal "always requires export approval from the Minister of METI." Because jurisdiction differs, confirm the details of re-exports and certificate-of-origin handling for Appendix III individually.

When importing into Japan, on the premise of the METI route: Appendix I requires an import approval certificate from the Minister of METI, plus an import permit. For Appendix I, a transaction is not established unless permits from both the exporting and importing countries are in place. Appendices II and III require a prior confirmation document from the Minister of METI. In every case, the CITES export permit or re-export certificate issued by the counterparty country is a precondition of the import procedure. If the counterparty's documents are not in order, no amount of preparation on the Japanese side will move the import forward.

Lined up this way, you get a jumble of similarly named documents — export approval, import approval, prior confirmation, CITES export permit, re-export certificate, certificate of origin. Only when four things come together — the classification of the item (identifying the species), the origin, the use, and the appendix category — is the required documentation fixed. Put the other way around, misjudge any one of them and you will get the required documents wrong, too.

In export-control practice, it is not enough to look at treaty-based procedures like these in isolation. Classification against list controls and catch-all controls, checks under other laws, and customs procedures are all connected as one continuous flow. TRAFEED, the export-control AI agent that TIMEWELL provides, assists with classification from the product name and specifications and visualizes the level of concern in a short time, making it easier to run this whole flow as a system. The AI's classification accuracy is 95% or higher (joint verification with Okayama University; self-reported), but whether an item is caught by other laws such as the Washington Convention, and the final classification, must be settled by your own export-control officer working from primary sources. The tool is an aid that makes human judgment faster and more reliable.

The relationship between the Washington Convention and the Species Preservation Act — separating overseas trade from domestic trade

Alongside the Washington Convention, another name that comes up often is the "Species Preservation Act" (the Act on Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Act No. 75 of 1992, in force April 1, 1993). Because the two differ in scope, understanding them separately keeps things clear.

Broadly, the Washington Convention (implemented through the Foreign Exchange Act and the trade control orders) regulates cross-border transactions — that is, imports and exports. The Species Preservation Act, by contrast, regulates transactions within Japan. Species listed in Appendix I are positioned under the Species Preservation Act as "International Endangered Species" (Article 4(4)), and their domestic transfer and similar acts (Article 12) are prohibited in principle and subject to a registration system. This is the third point to watch. The idea that "as long as I obtain Japanese import/export approval, I can freely buy and sell domestically" is a misconception; species listed in Appendix I are also caught when bought, sold, or transferred within Japan.

What is more, the two do not operate separately. Article 15 of the Species Preservation Act sets out the prohibition on import and export, and its paragraph 2 expressly imposes on anyone importing or exporting individuals of endangered species the approval obligation under Article 48(3) (export) or Article 52 (import) of the Foreign Exchange Act. The Species Preservation Act, which regulates domestic trade, explicitly draws in the approval obligation of the Foreign Exchange Act, which regulates international trade. The accurate way to understand it is that the two function as one.

A word on the domestic ivory trade, too. Ivory is handled especially strictly — for example, handling it domestically requires registration as a Special International Species Business Operator (Article 33-6 of the Species Preservation Act, among others). Because the fine details of handling whole tusks and cut pieces are set by related ministerial ordinances and operational rules, this article stays at the level of an overview. If you handle ivory as a business, be sure to confirm the registration requirements and procedures against the Ministry of the Environment's latest information.

How far can you go with overseas souvenirs and personal effects?

Up to this point I have assumed import and export as a business, but for individuals, the familiar cases are souvenirs and household goods. METI provides an exemption under which personal effects, tools of trade, household goods, and souvenirs do not require Japanese import/export approval procedures or a CITES export permit, provided they stay within the defined scope. Demanding that travelers obtain approval for every souvenir they buy locally would be unrealistic, so the procedure is simplified within a certain range.

That exemption comes with several pitfalls, however. A fourth misconception is that "personal souvenirs can always be brought home." That is not correct. The exemption is available only if the item is within scope and the counterparty country has adopted a similar exemption. If the other country has no comparable exemption, you may not be able to clear its customs on the way out. You get stopped at departure, before you ever reach Japan.

The items to watch specifically are crocodile-leather products and ivory products. Leather products from crocodiles, snakes, and lizards, and ivory products, can be eligible for the personal exemption, but even within crocodiles, some fall under Appendix I (trade prohibited in principle) and others under Appendix II depending on the country of origin or population. Even for an item that falls under Appendix II, a certificate of origin or similar document may be required. If the crocodile-leather product comes from a population that falls under Appendix I, commercial international trade is prohibited in principle in the first place. As noted, ivory is handled especially strictly, and it is an item at high risk of being stopped at customs if you try to bring it home casually.

The specific scope of items and quantities eligible for the personal exemption is set by METI notifications and operational rules and can change. This article does not assert amounts or quantities. If you plan to buy worked products of wild fauna and flora overseas, I strongly recommend confirming, before you buy or before you leave the country, which appendix the item falls under and what documents are required. "I didn't know" will not persuade customs to wait.

What happens if you violate — penalties and the customs check at the border

Let me talk about penalties, starting with a note on terminology. Somewhat older explanatory articles describe the penalty as "penal servitude" (chōeki), but that is outdated wording. The Act Partially Amending the Penal Code and Other Acts (Act No. 67 of 2022) unified imprisonment with and without labor into a single "imprisonment" (kōkinkei), which came into force on June 1, 2025. As a result, the penalties under the Species Preservation Act are also expressed as "imprisonment" in the current text.

Reading that current text, Article 57-2 of the Species Preservation Act provides that a person who violates the prohibition on transfer and similar acts (Articles 9 and 12(1)) or the prohibition on import and export (Article 15(1)), among others, is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 5 million yen, or both. That is a criminal penalty that is hardly light even for an individual. Heavier still is the sanction on corporations: under the dual-liability provision in Article 65 of the Species Preservation Act, where the violation is committed in relation to the business of a corporation, the corporation is fined up to 100 million yen. The structure is such that not only is the individual in charge punished — the company itself becomes the target of a fine in the hundreds of millions of yen.

So where does that regulation actually bite? The answer is at the border, with Customs. Article 70 of the Customs Act (proof or confirmation) provides that, for cargo requiring permits, approvals, or the like for import or export under other laws, you must prove to Customs at the time of declaration that the permit, approval, or the like has been obtained. Cargo that cannot be proven is permitted neither for export nor for import. A fifth misconception is the belief that "the procedure is complete once Customs grants permission," but it is METI (or MAFF for items taken from the sea and the like) that issues the approval or confirmation; Customs simply confirms whether it has been obtained, on the basis of Article 70 of the Customs Act. The approval is something you obtain in advance from a separate authority; Customs is the checkpoint that verifies it at the border. That is the division of roles.

In import and export, there are many other laws to check besides the Customs Act and the Washington Convention. The Washington Convention is just one representative example of the other-law checks. The overall picture of the other laws that are easy to overlook in trade practice is organized in our checklist of other laws to confirm in trade, so use it when you inspect your pre-shipment checks for gaps.

FAQs, and the practical points for building CITES into your export-control system

Finally, let me organize the questions I hear most in practice, along with the key points for building a system.

The most common question is "How do I look up which species is in which appendix?" Because the contents of the appendices are amended at the Conference of the Parties (CoP), checking the latest version is essential. You can confirm them on the official sites of METI, the Ministry of the Environment, and Japan Customs, or in the Ministry of the Environment's list of International Endangered Species based on the enforcement order of the Species Preservation Act. What matters here is building into your system the premise that the same species can be assigned to different appendices depending on the country of origin or population. Do not learn a particular species name once as "this is Appendix II" and leave it there. Run a procedure that verifies classification (identifying the species), origin, and use for each shipment. That, I believe, is the crux of CITES practice.

From a system-building standpoint, I recommend not running your Washington Convention response in isolation from the overall export-control process. If classification, other-law checks, and consistency checks of customs documents are designed as one continuous flow, CITES-covered items get caught within that same flow. Conversely, if only CITES is handled by a different person through a different procedure, things slip through the moment that person changes. An operation that relies on someone's memory and effort will break down sooner or later.

I see export control not so much as a defensive cost as an investment that protects the trust of your counterparties and your overseas trade routes. For companies that handle animals, plants, or their products, the Washington Convention is a law you cannot dismiss with "this doesn't apply to us." Start by taking inventory, from primary sources, of whether the items you handle include anything derived from wild fauna and flora — and, if they do, which appendix category applies and which documents are required. If you get stuck on how to build the system or how to systematize other-law checks, we can work out the concrete next steps together through a TRAFEED consultation.

Summary

• The Washington Convention (CITES) is a multilateral treaty adopted in 1973 and in force since 1975; it entered into force for Japan on November 4, 1980. Its scope covers not only live individuals but also derivatives such as parts, eggs, seeds, taxidermy specimens, and worked products.
• The appendices come in three categories, I through III. Appendix I prohibits commercial international trade in principle; Appendices II and III permit trade subject to conditions such as the exporting country's CITES export permit.
• Japan implements the convention through the Foreign Exchange Act and the trade control orders. Exports require export approval from the Minister of METI under row 36 of Appended Table 2 of the Export Trade Control Order; imports require an import approval certificate or a prior confirmation document; and the authorities are split between METI and MAFF.
• Species listed in Appendix I are also regulated for domestic transfer and similar acts under the Species Preservation Act. Import/export (the Foreign Exchange Act) and domestic trade (the Species Preservation Act) function as one.
• Violations carry up to five years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 5 million yen, and up to 100 million yen for corporations. Customs confirms at the border that approval has been obtained, on the basis of Article 70 of the Customs Act.

The appendices are updated at the Conference of the Parties, and even the same species can change category depending on the country of origin. Rather than "I checked once, so I'm fine," verify against primary sources for each shipment. It is unglamorous, but it is the surest way to protect yourself. Open your item list and, even for just one item today, check whether anything is derived from wild fauna and flora.

References (primary sources)

• Washington Convention (CITES) | METI Trade Control
• About the Washington Convention (full treaty text, appendices, parties, etc.) | METI
• Export approval procedures for cargo regulated under the Washington Convention | METI
• Import approval procedures for cargo regulated under the Washington Convention | METI
• Information on the exemption scheme for individuals (souvenirs) | METI
• The Washington Convention | Japan Customs
• What the Washington Convention is (the Washington Convention and the Species Preservation Act) | Ministry of the Environment
• What the Species Preservation Act is | Ministry of the Environment
• Import/export regulation under the Washington Convention: Japan | JETRO Trade and Investment Q&A
• Act on Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Species Preservation Act, Act No. 75 of 1992) | e-Gov law search
• Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (Act No. 228 of 1949) | e-Gov law search
• Export Trade Control Order (Cabinet Order No. 378 of 1949) | e-Gov law search
• Import Trade Control Order (Cabinet Order No. 414 of 1949) | e-Gov law search
• Customs Act (Act No. 61 of 1954) | e-Gov law search
• Unified imprisonment (integration of imprisonment with and without labor; in force June 1, 2025) | Ministry of Justice

Related articles

• Practical guide to export-approval items (Appended Table 2 of the Export Trade Control Order)
• Checklist of other laws to confirm in trade