Treatment of orchid hybrids under CITES

Developed by the CITES Secretariat

GreenCustoms Knowledge Series No. 19

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Questions to answer

• Which orchids are included in CITES?

• What are orchid hybrids?

• How many orchid hybrids are there?

• Is their trade covered by CITES?

• Which orchid hybrids are exempt from CITES controls?

• What special considerations apply when controlling trade in orchid hybrids?

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Orchids and CITES

• The Orchid family (Orchidaceae) is the largest family of the flowering plants

• All orchid species are included in Appendix I or II of CITES

• Approximately 24,000 wild species are known

• Orchids are also commonly artificially propagated in nurseries, for commercial trade

Paphiopedilum spicerianum

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Orchids and CITES

• Appendix I orchids artificially propagated for commercial purposes may be deemed to be included in Appendix II and are subject to the usual provisions for export of Appendix II species

• Appendix II orchids that are artificially propagated may be traded with a certificate of artificial propagation (instead of an export permit)

• Some Parties use phytosanitary certificates instead of certificates of artificial propagation

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Orchids and CITES

• The following parts and derivatives of Appendix II orchids are not subject to the provisions of CITES

– seeds and pollen

– flasked seedlings

– cut flowers of artificially propagated plants

– fruits (seed capsules) and parts and derivatives thereof of artificially propagated plants of the genus Vanilla

Vanilla extract

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Orchid hybrids

• Orchid hybrids are usually man-made crosses between selected species that aim to produce spectacularly shaped flowers and attractive color combinations

• Over 100,000 orchid hybrids are recognized, and thousands of new hybrids are created every year

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Orchid hybrids

• Orchid hybrids are also subject to the provisions of CITES (as the parents are of species included in the Appendices), unless the hybrids are excluded from CITES controls by a specific annotation in Appendix II

• The Parties recently adopted an annotation to the listing of Appendix II orchids, which excludes hybrids of the genera Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda, when certain conditions are met

• Plants not clearly qualifying for this exemption must be accompanied by appropriate CITES documents

•

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Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda hybrids

• These conditions are:

– Specimens are readily recognizable as artificially propagated and do not show any signs of having been collected in the wild such as mechanical damage or strong dehydration resulting from collection, irregular growth and heterogeneous size and shape within a taxon and shipment, algae or other epiphyllous organisms adhering to leaves, or damage by insects or other pests

Leaf showing damage from insects

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Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda hybrids

Wild-collected Vanda orchid showing damage to leaves

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Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda hybrids

Wild-collected orchid leaf with collapsed surface cells and damaged midrib caused by dehydration

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Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda hybrids

Wild-collected orchid leaf damage - also note the presence of lichens

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Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda hybrids

– When shipped in non-flowering state, the specimens must be traded in shipments consisting of individual containers (such as cartons, boxes, crates or individual shelves of CC-containers) each containing 20 or more plants of the same hybrid

• the plants within each container must exhibit a high degree of uniformity and healthiness

• the shipment must be accompanied by documentation, such as an invoice, which clearly states the number of plants of each hybrid CC-container

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Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda hybrids

Artificially propagated Phalaenopsis specimen showing uniformity and healthy leaves

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Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda hybrids

Or

– When shipped in flowering state, with at least one fully open flower per specimen, no minimum number of specimens per shipment is required but specimens must be professionally processed for commercial retail sale (labelled with printed labels or packaged with printed packages indicating the name of the hybrid and the country of final processing)

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Exemption for flasked seedlings

• Appendix-I orchids

– Seedlings obtained in vitro, in solid or liquid media, and transported in sterile containers, are exempt from CITES control (it is recommended that this applies only to artificially propagated plants)

• Appendix II orchids

– Seedling or tissue cultures obtained in vitro, in solid or liquid media,transported in sterile containers are exempt from CITES control (thisincludes orchid hybrids)

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Exemption for cut flowers

• Cut flowers of artificially propagated plants of Appendix II orchids are not subject to the provisions of CITES (including Appendix II orchid hybrids)

• This exemption currently applies to artificially propagated orchid hybrids that include one or more Appendix I species

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When exemptions no longer apply

• The Parties determine that when specimens cease to qualify for an exemption from the provisions of CITES, under which they were legally exported and imported, they are deemed to originate in the country in which they cease to qualify for the exemption

– For example, if a previously imported flasked seedling is removed from the flask and is then exported, it is deemed to originate from the country where it was removed from the flask

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Caution

• CITES does not maintain a list of orchid hybrids

• In addition, the names of orchid hybrids do not appear in the Appendices or the Checklist of CITES Species

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Summary

• All orchid species are included in Appendix I or II

– Exemptions from CITES controls may apply for certain specimens of Appendix I and Appendix II species

• Orchid hybrids are also subject to CITES controls, unless they are exempted under specific conditions:

– Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda hybrids

– Flasked seedlings

– Cut flowers

• Names of orchid hybrids do not appear in the Appendices or the Checklist of CITES Species

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CITES SecretariatGeneva

www.cites.org