From 1979 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) has limited the trade of endangered plants which is a function of individual countries. Currently there are about 25,000 species of plants which are within the CITES program., A country or the National Plant Protection Organization of that country will petition to the International committee to allow the placement of a plant species into the CITES program. It is the right of the sovereign country to control (or not) their natural resources. For instance American Ginseng Panax quinquefolius has a higher value on the international market than it's Asian cousin. US place native Ginseng on the CITES appendix II list which allowed controlled harvesting and government control over exports from the Northern states. For Wollemi Pine Australia opted to allow tissue culture to promote the distribution of germplasm and avoid loss due to the narrow habitat range. Some plants are very rare and so endangered and they are on the CITES Appendix I list. It is up to the NPPO to maintain regulatory control and often smugglers have more resources than governments to police when other social economic pressures compete for resources. The break down is as follows: Appendix I includes species that may be threatened with extinction and which are or may be affected by international trade. International trade in wild specimens of these species is subject to strict regulation and is normally only permitted in exceptional circumstances. Trade in artificially propagated or captive-bred specimens is allowed, subject to license. This covers certain species of orchids and cacti. Appendix II includes species not considered to be under the same threat as those in Appendix I, but which may become so if trade is not regulated. International trade in these species is monitored through a licensing system to ensure that trade can be sustained without detriment to wild populations. Trade in wild, captive bred and artificially propagated specimens is allowed, subject to permit. This would be nursery grown orchids, cacti and carnivorous plants. Appendix III contains species that are not necessarily threatened on a global level, but that are protected within individual countries where that state has sought the help of other CITES Parties to control international trade in that species. Examples include mahogany from Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Bolivia The EU has expanded this to replace the three Appendixes into four Annexes, there the lowest Annexes is for plants not listed in CITES but individual countries consider the species at risk. http://www.cites.org/eng/com/PC/16/index.shtml In the US there is a balance between growers who want to promote and cash in on rarity and the conservation groups that want to preserve the species as is... http://explorers.org/expeditions/161diggles2003/… verses http://www.telosrarebulbs.com/calochortus.html Individuals can trade in endangered species when artificially propagated. Problem is that the rare status is often lost when mass produced- like Phalenopsis and Cymbidium orchids now dying slowly at you local hardware store. rare becomes common place and then falls into obscurity when it's cheap and over abundant. Bill