Guidance

CITES trade term codes

Updated 11 November 2024

Find the relevant trade term code you need when you apply for a CITES permit to move or trade endangered species.

Each code is 3 letters (for example, LIV for live animals and plants) and used to describe the type of specimen that you are applying for. A specimen is a living or dead animal or plant or any of its parts, or an item made from these.

If you are not sure which is the correct trade term code to use, you can provide more detail when describing the specimen in your application.

Name	Trade term code	Preferred unit	Alternative unit	Description
baleen	BAL	kilograms	number	Elastic sheets of keratin that hang from the upper jaw of baleen whales (Mysticeti) and allow them to feed.
bark	BAR	kilograms	not applicable	Tree bark (raw, dried or powdered, unprocessed).
body	BOD	number	kilograms	Substantially whole dead animals, including whole fish, stuffed turtles, preserved butterflies, reptiles in alcohol, whole stuffed hunting trophies. If referring to specimens of sharks and rays (Elasmobranchii spp.), the preferred unit is kilograms.
bone	BON	kilograms	number	Bones, including jaws.
calipee	CAL	kilograms	not applicable	Calipee or calipash (turtle cartilage for soup).
carapace	CAP	number	kilograms	Raw or unworked whole shells of testudines species.
carving	CAR	kilograms	number	Carved products other than ivory, bone or horn – for example, coral and wood (including handicrafts). Note: ivory carvings should be specified as such (see carving – ivory (worked ivory) ‘IVC’). Also, for species from which more than one type of product may be carved (for example, horn and bone), the trade term code should indicate the type of product in trade (for example, bone carving ‘BOC’ or horn carving ‘HOC’), where possible.
carving – bone	BOC	kilograms	number	bone carving
carving – horn	HOC	kilograms	number	horn carving
carving – ivory (worked ivory)	IVC	kilograms	number	Ivory carvings, for example smaller worked pieces of ivory (including knife handles, chess sets, marjoram sets). Note: whole carved tusk should be reported as carving – ivory (worked ivory) ‘IVC’ not as tusks (see tusk (raw ivory) ‘TUS’). Jewellery made from carved ivory should be reported as ‘jewellery –ivory’ (see jewellery – ivory (worked ivory) ‘IJW’).
caviar	CAV	kilograms	not applicable	Unfertilised dead processed eggs from all species of Acipenseriformes – also known as roe.
chips (woodchips)	CHP	kilograms	not applicable	Chips of timber, especially Aquilaria spp., Gyrinops spp. and Pterocarpus santalinus.
claw	CLA	number	kilograms	Claws – for example, of Felidae, Ursidae or Crocodylia. Note: ‘turtle claws’ are usually scales and not real claws.
cloth	CLO	square metres	kilograms	Cloth – if the cloth is not made entirely from the hair of a CITES species, the weight of hair of the species concerned should instead, if possible, be recorded under hair ‘HAI’.
coral (raw)	COR	number	kilograms	Raw or unworked coral and coral rock (also live rock and substrate) [as defined in Resolution Cont. 11.10 (Rev. CoP15)]. Coral rock should be recorded as ‘Scleractinia spp.’ Note: the trade should be recorded by number of pieces only if the coral specimens are transported in water. Live rock (transported moist in boxes) should be reported in kilograms. Coral substrate should be reported as number of pieces (since these are transported in water as the substrate to which non-CITES corals are attached).
cosmetics	COS	grams	millilitres	Any product or mixture of products which is applied to an external part of the body only (for example, skin, hair, nails, genitals, lips or teeth or the mucous membranes of the oral cavity) with the intent to clean, odorise, change the appearance or protect. Cosmetics may include: make-up, perfume, skin cream, nail polish, hair colourants, soap, shampoo, shaving cream, deodorant, sunscreens, toothpaste. Cosmetics that include extracts of CITES-listed species. The quantity should reflect the amount of CITES-listed species present.
culture	CUL	number – for example, of flasks	not applicable	Cultures of artificially propagated plants.
derivatives	DER	kilograms or Iitres	not applicable	Derivatives (other than those included elsewhere in this table).
dried plant	DPL	number	not applicable	Dried plants – for example, herbarium specimens.
ear	EAR	number	not applicable	Ears – usually elephant.
egg	EGG	number	kilograms	Whole dead or blown eggs (see also caviar ‘CAV’).
egg (live)	EGL	number	kilograms	Live fertilised eggs – usually birds and reptiles but includes fish and invertebrates.
eggshell	ESH	grams or kilograms	not applicable	Raw or unworked eggshell except whole eggs.
extract	EXT	kilograms	litres	Extract – usually plant extracts.
feather	FEA	kilograms or number of wings	number	Feathers – in the case of objects (for example, pictures) made of feathers, record the number of objects.
fibre	FIB	kilograms	metres	Natural fibre: generic term for several types of material of natural (plant or animal) origin. Animal fibre can usually be spun and woven and is usually very fine and has good flexibility – for example, fibre coming from the shearing of live vicunas. It also includes fibres from animal intestines used to make strings for tennis rackets.
fin (dried)	DFN	kilograms	not applicable	Dried fins and parts of fins (including flippers).
fin (wet)	FFN	kilograms	not applicable	Fresh, chilled of frozen fins and parts of fins (including flippers).
fingerlings	FIG	kilograms	number	Live juvenile fish for the aquarium trade, aquaculture, hatcheries, consumption or for release, including live European eels (Anguila anguilla) up to 12 centimetres in length.
flower	FLO	kilograms	not applicable	flowers
flower pot	FPT	number	not applicable	Flower pots made from parts of a plant – for example, treefern fibres. Note: live plants traded in so-called ‘community pots’ should be recorded as ‘live plants’, not as flower pots.
foot	FOO	number	not applicable	Feet – for example, of elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, lion, crocodile.
frog legs	LEG	kilograms	not applicable	frog legs
fruit	FRU	kilograms	not applicable	fruit
fur products (large)	FPL	number	not applicable	Large manufactured products of fur – for example, bear or lynx fur blankets or other fur products of a substantial size.
fur product (small)	FPS	number	not applicable	Small manufactured products of fur – including handbags, key fobs, purses, pillows, trim.
gall	GAL	kilograms	not applicable	gall
gall bladder	GAB	number	kilograms	gall bladder
garment	GAR	number	not applicable	Garments – including gloves and hats but not shoes. Includes trimming or decoration on garments.
genitalia	GEN	kilograms	number	Castrates and dried penes.
gill plates	GIL	kilograms	number	Gill plates (for example, for sharks).
graft rootstock	GRS	number	not applicable	Graft rootstocks (without the grafts).
hair	HAI	kilograms	grams	Hair – includes all animal hair, for example of elephant, yak, guanaco.
hair products	HAP	number	grams	Products made of hair (for example, elephant hair bracelets).
horn	HOR	number	kilograms	Horns – includes antlers.
jewellery	JWL	number	grams	Jewellery – including bracelets, necklaces, and other items of jewellery from products other than ivory (for example, wood, coral).
jewellery – ivory (worked ivory)	IJW	number	grams	Jewellery made of ivory – includes ekipas.
kernel	KNL	kilograms	not applicable	Also known as ‘endosperm’, ‘pulp’ or ‘copra’.
leaf	LVS	kilograms	number	leaves
leather product (large)	LPL	number	not applicable	Large manufactured products of leather – for example, briefcases, furniture, suitcases, travel trunks.
leather product (small)	LPS	number	not applicable	Small manufactured products of leather – for example, belts, braces, bicycle saddles, cheque book or credit card holders, handbags, key fobs, notebooks, purses, shoes, tobacco pouches, wallets, watch-straps and trim.
live	LIV	number	kilograms	Live animals and plants, excluding live fingerling fish – see fingerlings ‘FIG’.
logs	LOG	cubic metres	not applicable	All wood in the rough, whether or not stripped of bark or sapwood, or roughly squared, for processing notably into sawn wood, pulpwood or veneer sheets. Note: trade in logs of special purpose timbers traded by weight (for example, lignumcvitae, Guaiacum spp.) should be recorded in kilograms.
meat	MEA	kilograms	not applicable	Meat, including flesh of fish if not whole (see body ‘BOD’), fresh or unprocessed meat as well as processed meat (for example, smoked, raw, dried, frozen or tinned). The code for meat (MEA) should be used in preference for trade in eels for human consumption.
medicine	MED	kilograms or Iitres	not applicable	medicine
musk	MUS	grams	not applicable	musk
oil	OIL	kilograms	litres	Oil – for example from turtles, seals, whales, fish, various plants.
pearl	PRL	number	not applicable	Pearl (for example, for Strombus gigas).
piano keys (worked ivory)	KEY	number	not applicable	Ivory piano keys (for example, one standard piano would be 52 ivory piano keys).
piece – bone	BOP	kilograms	not applicable	Pieces of bone, not manufactured.
piece – horn	HOP	kilograms	not applicable	Pieces of horn, not manufactured – includes scrap.
piece – ivory (raw ivory)	IVP	kilograms	not applicable	Ivory pieces, not manufactured – includes scrap.
plate	PLA	square metres	not applicable	Plates of multiple skins – includes rugs if made of several skins.
plywood	PLY	square metres	cubic metres	Material consisting of 3 or more sheets of wood glued and pressed one on the other and generally disposed so that the grains of successive layers are at an angle.
powder	POW	kilograms	not applicable	A dry, solid substance in the form of fine or coarse particles.
pupae	PUP	number	not applicable	butterfly pupae
root	ROO	number	kilograms	Roots, bulbs, corms or tubers. Note: for the agarwood-producing taxa Aqui/aria spp. and Gyrinops spp., the preferred unit is ‘kilograms’. The alternative unit is ‘number’.
rug	RUG	number	not applicable	rugs
sawfish rostrum	ROS	number	kilograms	sawfish rostrum
sawn wood	SAW	cubic metres	not applicable	Wood simply sawn lengthwise or produced by a profile-chipping process – normally exceeds 6 millimeters in thickness. Note: trade in sawn wood of special purpose timbers traded by weight (for example, lignum vitae, Guaiacum spp.) should be recorded in kilograms.
scale	SCA	kilograms	not applicable	Scales – for example of turtle, other reptiles, fish, pangolin.
seed	SEE	kilograms	not applicable	seeds
shell	SHE	number	kilograms	Raw or unworked shell of molluscs.
side	SID	number	not applicable	Sides or flanks of skins – does not include crocodilian Tinga frames (see skin ‘SKI’).
skeleton	SKE	number	not applicable	Substantially whole skeletons.
skin	SKI	number		Substantially whole skins, raw or tanned, including hides, crocodilian Tinga frames, external body lining, with or without scales.
skin piece	SKP	kilograms	number	Skin pieces – including scraps, raw or tanned.
skull	SKU	number	not applicable	skulls
soup	SOU	kilograms	litres	Soup – for example of turtle.
specimen (scientific)	SPE	kilograms or Iitres or millilitres or number	not applicable	Scientific specimens – includes blood, tissue (for example, kidney, spleen), histological preparations, preserved museum specimens.
stem	STE	number	kilograms	Plant stems. Note: for the agarwood-producing taxa Aquilaria spp. and Gyrinops spp., the preferred unit is ‘kilograms’. The alternative unit is ‘number’.
swim bladder	SWI	kilograms	not applicable	Hydrostatic organ, including isinglass or sturgeon glue.
tail	TAI	number	kilograms	Tails – for example, of caiman (for leather) or fox (including for garment trimming, collars, boas), also includes flukes of cetaceans.
thread	THD	kilograms	not applicable	A processed long strand of multiple hairs or fibres of natural (for example plant or animal) origin, such as vicuna, guanaco.
timber	TIM	cubic metres	kilograms	Raw timber except saw-logs, sawn wood and transformed wood.
tooth	TEE	number	kilograms	Teeth – for example of whale, lion, hippopotamus, crocodile.
transformed wood	TRW	cubic metres	kilograms	Defined by Harmonized System code 44.09: Wood (including strips, friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled), continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, v-jointed, beaded or the like) along any edges, ends or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or end-jointed.
trophy	TRO	number	not applicable	Trophy – all the trophy parts of one animal if they are exported together, for example 2 horns, a skull, cape, backskin, tail and feet (10 specimens) constitute one trophy. But if, for example, the skull and horns are the only specimens of an animal that are exported, these items together should be recorded as one trophy. Otherwise, the items should be recorded separately. A whole stuffed body is recorded under body ‘BOD’. A skin alone is recorded under skin ‘SKI’. Trade in ‘full mount’, ‘shoulder mount’ and ‘half mount’, along with any corresponding parts of the same animal exported together on the same permit, should be reported as ‘1 TRO’.
trunk	TRU	number	kilograms	Elephant trunk. Note: an elephant trunk exported with other trophy items from the same animal on the same permit as part of a hunting trophy should be reported as ‘TRO’.
tusk (raw ivory)	TUS	number	kilograms	Substantially whole tusks, not worked. Includes tusks of elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, but not other teeth. Note: whole carved tusks should be reported as carving – ivory (see carving – ivory (worked ivory) ‘IVC’).
veneer sheets (rotary veneer)	VEN	cubic metres	kilograms	Thin layers or sheets of wood of uniform thickness, usually 6 millimeters or less in thickness, usually peeled (rotary veneer) or sliced (sliced veneer), for use in making plywood, for veneering furniture, veneer containers, for example.
veneer sheets (sliced veneer)	VEN	square metres	kilograms	Thin layers or sheets of wood of uniform thickness, usually 6 millimeters or less in thickness, usually peeled (rotary veneer) or sliced (sliced veneer), for use in making plywood, for veneering furniture, veneer containers, for example.
wax	WAX	kilograms	not applicable	wax
wood product	WPR	number	kilograms	Manufactured wood products, including finished wood products such as furniture and musical instruments.