{"id":"F2017L00351","name":"List of CITES Species - Declaration of a stricter domestic measure in accordance with section 303CB - Loxodonta Africana (African elephant)","slug":"list-of-cites-species-declaration-of-a-stricter-domestic-measure-in-accordance-with-section-303cb-lo","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":96069,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2017L00351-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"List of CITES Species - Declaration of a stricter domestic measure in accordance with section 303CB - Loxodonta Africana (African elephant)","content":"COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA\n\nEnvironment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999\n\nList of CITES Species\n\nDeclaration of a stricter domestic measure in accordance with section 303CB\n\nI, Josh Frydenberg, Minister for the Environment and Energy, pursuant to subsection 303CB(1) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), hereby declare that the list of CITES[\\[1\\]](#_ftn1) species established under subsection 303CA(1) of the EPBC Act, has effect as if the populations of the species Loxodonta africana (African elephant), included in Appendix II to CITES are included in Appendix I to CITES.\n\nThis instrument will commence on 1 April 2017.\n\nDated this 20 day of March 2017\n\nJosh Frydenberg\n\nJosh Frydenberg\n\nMinister for the Environment and Energy\n\n---\n\n[\\[1\\]](#_ftnref1) The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora made at Washington on 3 March 1973, as amended and in force for Australia from time\\-to\\-time.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument operates exactly within its intended scope under section 303CB of the EPBC Act, which specifically authorises the Minister to declare stricter domestic measures for CITES species. The declaration is a precise, targeted use of this power for a single species, without expansion into unrelated policy areas."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision with straightforward legal mechanism (deeming provision)","Only one defined term referenced (CITES, defined in footnote)","No cross-references to other sections beyond the enabling provision (section 303CB)","No conditional logic, exceptions, or procedural requirements","Very short instrument (approximately 150 words of substantive text)","Clear, unambiguous directive with immediate legal effect upon commencement"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a ministerial declaration that tightens Australia's rules on trading African elephant parts and products.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **CITES** is an international treaty that regulates trade in endangered wildlife. It has two main lists (called \"Appendices\"):\n  - **Appendix II**: Species that can be traded internationally, but with permits and restrictions\n  - **Appendix I**: Species that are banned from international commercial trade (except in very limited circumstances)\n\n- This declaration \"upgrades\" all African elephant populations from Appendix II to Appendix I **for Australian law purposes only**. This means Australia treats African elephants as if they were on the strictest protection list, even though the international treaty allows some trade.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Anyone importing or exporting African elephant ivory, trophies, or other products into or out of Australia\n- Wildlife traders, hunters, collectors, and museums dealing with elephant specimens\n- Australian border officials enforcing wildlife trade laws\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- Australia is choosing to be stricter than the minimum international standard. While CITES allows regulated trade in African elephants from certain populations, Australia now effectively bans commercial trade in all African elephant products.\n- This is a domestic measure to combat poaching and the illegal ivory trade by closing legal loopholes that could allow \"laundering\" of illegal ivory into Australia."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The instrument changes the domestic legal treatment of certain African elephant populations from the status they held by virtue of their listing in Appendix II of CITES to being treated as if they were in Appendix I for the purposes of the EPBC Act. This constitutes a narrowing of permissible activities or a tightening of domestic controls that broadens the scope of higher protection under domestic law for the affected populations (see instrument text and operation under subsection 303CB(1), commencement 1 April 2017)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-reference to international instrument (CITES) whose appendix classifications determine domestic legal effect under the EPBC Act (requires interpretative alignment).","Reliance on specific statutory provisions (subsections 303CB(1) and 303CA(1)) meaning effect depends on the broader EPBC Act framework and its permit/enforcement machinery.","Potential ambiguity over which specific populations are covered (phrase: \"populations of the species Loxodonta africana included in Appendix II to CITES\" requires cross-checking current CITES listings to identify scope).","Administrative implementation requirements (updating permits, guidance, border control and enforcement practices) that involve inter-agency coordination and operational change.","Compliance burden concentrated on a subset of regulated parties (importers/exporters/holders of elephant specimens) and potential for legal challenge or transitional disputes.","Commencement timing (specific future date) which creates a short transitional window for stakeholders and regulators to adapt."],"plain_english_summary":"What this instrument does (mechanically)\n\n- The Minister for the Environment and Energy has made a formal declaration under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) that, for domestic law purposes, populations of Loxodonta africana (African elephant) that are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) are to be treated as if they were listed in Appendix I. (See: subsection 303CB(1) and subsection 303CA(1) of the EPBC Act as cited in the instrument.)\n\nWho this affects\n\n- People and businesses in Australia who deal with African elephant specimens (for example: importers, exporters, traders, museums, collectors, researchers, and owners) will be affected because the domestic legal treatment of those populations has been changed.\n- Government agencies responsible for implementing and enforcing the EPBC Act (for example customs and environmental regulators) must apply the declared treatment in administering permits, assessments and compliance activity.\n\nOfficial purpose-claim\n\n- The instrument is presented as a \"declaration of a stricter domestic measure\" under the EPBC Act: it expressly gives domestic effect to a tighter classification for certain African elephant populations than that listed in the international CITES Appendix. (Instrument title and text.)\n\nHow it works in practice (concrete mechanisms, incentives and costs)\n\n- Who decides: the declaration was made by the Minister under subsection 303CB(1), so the Minister exercises the statutory power to alter how the federal CITES list is applied domestically. (Instrument text.)\n- Who pays: regulated parties who trade in, possess, or seek to import/export specimens or derivatives of the affected African elephant populations will face the direct costs of adapting to the new domestic classification. Those costs include any extra paperwork, permit applications, record-keeping, legal advice, and potential delay or exclusion of commercial activities that are incompatible with the new domestic treatment. These are compliance and transaction costs triggered by the change in legal status. (Implication of the domestic reclassification effected by the instrument.)\n- Behaviour changes and incentives: by treating those populations as if in the stricter Appendix I for domestic purposes, the instrument changes regulatory incentives for private actors. Some activities that were compliant under the prior domestic treatment may now become subject to stricter controls or different permit conditions, which changes private choices about trading, holding, or importing/exporting affected specimens.\n- Effects on private enterprise and markets: businesses that previously traded in or relied on materials from the affected populations may face reduced commercial options, additional compliance burdens, and possible loss of market access for those items. This will tend to shift commercial behaviour away from affected goods and could create substitution towards alternative products or suppliers not covered by the declaration.\n\nTrade-offs, implementation risks and administrative discretion\n\n- Trade-offs and opportunity costs: the instrument replaces one domestic classification with a stricter one; the direct trade-off is between tighter domestic controls and the compliance/market costs borne by regulated parties. Those parties may need to reallocate resources (time, legal/compliance spend) as an opportunity cost of the change.\n- Implementation risk and compliance burden: the practical effect requires regulators to apply the new classification consistently in permit decisions, enforcement and border control. That introduces administrative tasks (updating guidance, training staff, issuing or revising permits) and creates short-term implementation risk (errors, delays, legal challenges) while systems are updated.\n- Bureaucratic discretion: the Minister's declaration under subsection 303CB(1) is an exercise of statutory discretion to alter domestic application of CITES listings. The instrument itself delegates no additional administrative detail but the execution of the declared treatment depends on regulatory officers and agencies interpreting and enforcing the EPBC Act in line with the declaration.\n\nUnintended consequences and concentration of effects\n\n- Concentrated benefits or costs: the immediate economic burdens will be concentrated on the specific businesses and individuals who trade in or own affected elephant specimens; the rest of the economy will be largely unaffected except insofar as substitute markets adjust.\n- Substitution effects: affected traders and buyers may substitute toward goods not subject to the declaration or source from populations or species outside the declared scope.\n\nFormal timing\n\n- The declaration takes effect on 1 April 2017 (instrument commencement clause).\n\nLegal anchors cited in the instrument\n\n- The declaration is made under subsection 303CB(1) and concerns the list established under subsection 303CA(1) of the EPBC Act. The instrument also refers to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as the international instrument governing the Appendix listings.\n\nSummary statement\n\n- Mechanically, this instrument makes a domestic legal change: it treats certain African elephant populations listed in CITES Appendix II as if they were listed in Appendix I for the purposes of the EPBC Act. That change will tighten the domestic regulatory treatment of those populations and impose compliance and market effects on persons and businesses dealing with affected specimens; it requires administrative action by regulators to implement and enforce the new domestic classification. (Instrument text: declaration by the Minister dated 20 March 2017, commencement 1 April 2017.)"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/list-of-cites-species-declaration-of-a-stricter-domestic-measure-in-accordance-with-section-303cb-lo","history":"/api/acts/list-of-cites-species-declaration-of-a-stricter-domestic-measure-in-accordance-with-section-303cb-lo/history","analysis":"/api/acts/list-of-cites-species-declaration-of-a-stricter-domestic-measure-in-accordance-with-section-303cb-lo/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/list-of-cites-species-declaration-of-a-stricter-domestic-measure-in-accordance-with-section-303cb-lo/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/list-of-cites-species-declaration-of-a-stricter-domestic-measure-in-accordance-with-section-303cb-lo/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/list-of-cites-species-declaration-of-a-stricter-domestic-measure-in-accordance-with-section-303cb-lo/documents"}}