ETIS
Definition
Elephant Trade Information System, operated under CITES. A global database of ivory seizure records used to detect trade routes, source countries, and stockpile-laundering patterns.
- Full name
- Elephant Trade Information System
- Operated under
- CITES
- Data type
- Ivory seizure records
- Purpose
- Detecting trade routes, source countries, stockpile laundering
Common questions
How does ETIS data help identify ivory stockpile laundering?+
By aggregating seizure records over time and location, analysts can spot patterns such as legally held stockpiles being used to disguise newly poached ivory entering the same supply chain, which a single seizure record would not reveal.
Who contributes seizure data to ETIS?+
CITES member countries and enforcement agencies report ivory seizures, which are compiled and analysed centrally, giving investigators a global rather than a purely national picture of trafficking patterns.
Does ETIS itself perform forensic testing on ivory samples?+
No. ETIS is a records and trend-analysis database; forensic identification of ivory origin relies on separate methods such as isotope or DNA analysis, with ETIS providing the trade-pattern context those results are interpreted against.
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