If you are buying goods made out exotic animals to take home with you, you will need a CITES certificate. This is a legal requirement, and travelling without a valid CITES certificate means your bag could be confiscated and/or destroyed by Customs.
What is CITES?
CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It’s an international agreement between governments to protect endangered plants and animals, making sure the trade of them doesn’t threaten their survival.
For this reason, export of goods made from the animals and plants protected by CITES requires a CITES certificate.
What types of goods would fall within this requirement?
Any goods made from animals or plants protected by CITES. The full list is available here.
Most commonly, this would apply to:
belts, bags or shoes made of exotic animal skin such as lizard, crocodile or alligator
scarves, accessories or clothing made of exotic animal fur such as ocelot, leopard, wolf and lynx
How do I get a CITES certificate?
When buying your goods, you should ask the sales assistant in store what material your goods are made of, and whether you will require a CITES certificate to take your goods home with you.
They will be able to provide you with the necessary documentation. For an example CITES certificate, see below:
Please note: Your goods may be checked by customs authorities/their designated agents at your departure airport. They have statutory powers to make the final decision on export of your goods and on your eligibility for a VAT refund. Wevat cannot interfere with or overrule their final decision.