Majority of the Parliament today backed the Maldives' participation in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Most lawmakers during the debate today stressed that by participating in the Convention it would benefit the economy and environment of the Maldives.
“Maldives’ participation in this Convention has been long overdue as it would benefit the economy and environment of the country,†Kelaa constituency MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom said.
Kulhudhuhfushi-north constituency MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa also stressed on the importance of Maldives’ partaking in the Convention but alleged that the present government has failed to respect such conventions so far.
Ghafoor further claimed that as Maldives prepares to participate in CITES, the government has failed to properly care for the protected places in the nation and stressed that such places must not be just set down on paper.
As the period of granting trade preferences by the nations of European Union ends next year after the Maldives graduated from least developed to developing country status in 2011, the country in order to secure further assistance must participate in the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) which can only be possible after signing CITES.
Apart from Maldives, other countries of SAARC and low lying nations had participated in the Convention, according to the documents submitted to the Parliament by the government.
The aim of CITES is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild, and it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 33,000 species of animals and plants.
The Parliament today forwarded the issue to its National Development Committee for assessment.
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