Aloe ferox (Aloe)

Criteria met:  High volume, sharp increase

Principal trade term to the EU:  extract, leaves

Percentage of global trade to the EU:  53%

Principal source:  wild

Top EU importer:  Germany

Top Trading Partner:  South Africa

CITES Appendix:  II

IUCN Status:   -

EU-reported imports of wild-sourced Aloe ferox extract (reported in kg), all purposes, 2001-2010.

EU imports in 2010 consisted primarily of extract (189,688 kg, 2,065 litres and 2,244 extract reported without units), leaves (42,120) and dried plants (11,660 dried plants and 500 kg of dried plants). With the exception of a small quantity of seized/confiscated extract, all trade was wild-sourced; the vast majority was traded for commercial purposes.

A. ferox met the criterion ‘sharp increase’ based on imports of dried plants; imports of individual dried plants increased by 71% between 2009 and 2010, with the additional 500 kg of dried plants imported in 2010. There were also notable increases in imports of extract reported by weight and leaves reported by number between 2009 and 2010 (increases of 2.5-fold and 46%, respectively) that cannot solely be accounted for by differences in the units used to report trade.

All EU imports in 2010 originated in South Africa, with the exception of a small quantity of the seized/confiscated extract which originated in the United States. The SRG formed a positive opinion for specimens from South Africa on 23/02/2012.