I want to express my deepest gratitude to my parents, spouse, children, siblings and friends. Without their tremendous understanding and encouragement over the years, it would have been impossible for me to complete this PhD program. It is difficult for me to find suitable words to convey how much I owe them for their continued support during this academic journey. Finally, I would like to thank all the officers of the National Audit Office of Tanzania for their kind help and support during the course of this journey.To everyone who was part of the process, you're appreciated.To God be the glory. v Contents Acknowledgment V List of Frequently Used Abbreviations XIII Dedication XV Chapter one 2.6.1 The concept of compliance in international law 2.6.2 Nature of CITES and the Key obligations 2.6.3 The Convention's compliance bodies 2.6.4 The Flaws 2.6.5 CITES compliance guidelines 2.7 Analysis CITES key obligations 2.7.1 Enactment of National Legislation to enforce provisions of CITES 2.7.2 Designation of authorities competent to administer CITES 2.7.3 Conducting trade in compliance with the permits and certificates system 2.7.3.1 CITES appendices 2.7.3.2 Documents required for trade in CITES listed species 2.7.3.3 The pre-requisites for international trade 2.7.4 Maintaining records of trade, preparation and submission of reports 2.7.5 Responding to Secretariat communications concerning potential compliance problems 2.7.6 Compliance with CITES quota system 2.7.7 Contribution to CITES Trust Fund 2.8 Verification of compliance 2.8.1 Reporting 2.8.1.1 Annual reports 2.8.1.2 Reports on legislative, regulatory and administrative measures 2.8.2 Verification of permits 2.8.3 Significant trade review 2.8.3.1 Significant trade review for the range states 2.8.3.2 A country-based review 2.8.3.3 The review processes 2.8.4 Reporting on the Convention's enforcement matters 2.9 Compliance issues and trade embargoes 2.10 An Assessment of the effectiveness of CITES 2.10.1 The Concept of effectiveness in international law 2.10.2 The assessment criteria 2.10.3 A brief assessment 2.10.3.1 The legal effectiveness of CITES 2.10.3.2 Ecological effectiveness 2.10.3.3 Normative effectiveness vii 2.11 Concluding remarks