Is it everything marketable in the international trade? International limits to guarantee the protection of species

The scientific community has noted on a regular basis the link between the international trade of protected species in the natural environment and public health. An example is the first coronavirus (SARS-CoV-1) pandemic, which is believed to have begun in wildlife markets and to have expanded by means of the international wildlife trade. The goal of this chapter is to apply a legal perspective to the relationship between three elements: the limits on the international trade of protected species, the relationship between international trade and the international protection of these species, and the relationship between the international trade of species and public health. To this end, the chapter analyses different international conventions and the action of international organizations. The key issue is to determine whether the CITES convention is the most appropriate place to include norms for the protection of public health from the potential dangers of the international trade in protected species, or whether these norms should be maintained inside the regulations governing international trade, bearing in mind that the remit of CITES does not extend beyond the protection of endangered species by means of restricting their international commercialization.