A new risk assessment by the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) show that the twelve species of crocodilians imported to or exported from Norway since 2011 are not threatened by international trade.

The risk assessment was commissioned by the Norwegian Environment Agency, the national Management Authority for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Norway. The assessment will be used for processing permits on import and export of crocodilians and crocodilian products to and from Norway in accordance with the Norwegian CITES regulation.

VKM, the national Scientific Authority for CITES in Norway, has assessed whether international trade with crocodilians poses a threat to the species’ survival in the wild. The species assessed are those imported to or exported from Norway since 2011. The risk assessment for each species is based on available knowledge on the species' biology, environment, use, trade, and management.

VKM concludes that international trade does not currently pose a threat to the survival of any of the twelve species. The species assessed are:

• American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
• Spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus)
• Broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris)
• American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)
• Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis)
• Morelet’s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii)
• Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)
• New Guinea crocodile (Crocodylus novaeguineae)
• Salt-water crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)
• Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer)
• Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer)
• Dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus)

The international management of crocodilians has been exceptionally well-organised for several decades. International trade does therefore not pose a threat today, even for species that are endangered for other reasons, such as habitat destruction,” says Eli Knispel Rueness, Chair of the project group.

VKM proposes that the risk assessment for each species remain valid for ten years unless the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issues new assessments of the species’ conservation status that indicate increased concern.