VIDEO - CITES Bangkok day three - secret ballot discussions postpone more pressing issues

In this video International Fund for Animal Welfare Director for International Agreements, Peter Pueschel talks about secret balloting and the need for greater transparency at the Conference of the Parties to CITES.

Although they have a role in international conferences, secret ballots can also be used by some countries to unfairly influence others to get their way.

The problem at CITES lies in the relative ease to call for a secret ballot, such that it has become a regular occurrence and delegations are not held accountable.

Peter had hoped the delegates would clear its slate of the secret ballot discussion and other interim issues and move swiftly on to discussions of providing greater protection for bears and elephants.

However, as the day wore on it became clear that neither the polar bear issue in Committee I nor the elephant issue in Committee II would be discussed.

Take a look and stay tuned to our Storify feed for all the latest CITES news from Bangkok.

--AH