Sub-regional wildlife enforcement cooperation 1 Global Snow Leopard Conservation Forum Bishkek, October 2013 Pia Jonsson CITES Secretariat

Transnational Organized Wildlife Crime - a matter of growing concern International organizations have recognized wildlife crime as a serious transnational organized crime. Low risk of detection, low penalties and high profits make this kind of criminality interesting for organized crime. Illegal trade in wildlife has now reached a scale that poses an immediate risk to wildlife and to people.

How to combat transnational wildlife crime? Treating wildlife crime as serious crime - in legislation and through relevant agencies Raising awareness among senior officials on wildlife trafficking Intelligence-based approach Improving investigative techniques and using the full range of enforcement tools Wildlife Enforcement Cooperation and Coordination among law enforcement agencies and wildlife authorities on national, sub-regional, regional and international level. 3

What to cooperate about? Awareness raising among law enforcement officers Sharing ideas and best practice Capacity-building, training and workshops Coordination and information exchange at all levels of CITES implementation and enforcement Identify discrepancies in legal trade reports Reporting mechanism for illegal trade Risk assessments Joint operations, cross-border projects 4

Examples of partners to cooperate with 5Police CustomsCITES/wildlifeAuthorities Enforcement networks National level Sub-regional / regional level International level (ICCWC) Prosecutor CITES- Secretariat INTERPOLWCO UNODC World Bank UNEP regional offices – MEA focal point INTERPOL regional bureaus INTERPOL regional bureaus WCO-RILO, WCO-RILO, ROCB UNODC regional offices UNODC regional offices World Bank regional offices World Bank regional offices World Bank country offices World Bank country offices

International coordinated support - ICCWC 6 Collaborative effort by CITES, INTERPOL, UNODC, World Bank, and WCO ICCWC’s letter of agreement refers to supporting national law enforcement agencies, regional wildlife enforcement agreements, bodies and networks in responding to transnational wildlife crime through available expertise and recourses and to raise awareness of wildlife crime. The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime -ICCWC-

ICCWC-support ICCWC organized following meetings alongside CoP16 in March 2013, Bangkok Thailand –The First Global Meeting of the Wildlife Enforcement Networks –High-level events on transnational organized wildlife crime –Specialized training for law enforcement officers 7

Ongoing ICCWC activities Piloting of the Wildlife and forest crime analytic toolkit (UNODC) DNA-project (UNODC) Wildlife Enforcement Indicators (UNODC) Wildlife Incident Support Teams (INTERPOL) Operational Capacity Building (CITES) Rhino Task Force and Rhino DNA sample collection and crime scene workshop (CITES) 8

International support - CITES The CITES Secretariat has a specific mandate to assist in the development and implementation of regional and subregional law-enforcement agreements AWARE of the important role of ICCWC in bringing coordinated support to the national wildlife law enforcement agencies and to the subregional and regional networks that, on a daily basis, act in defence of natural resources. CITES Resolution 11.3 (Rev CoP 16) on Compliance and Enforcement 9

International support - CITES-projects 1.CITES Workshop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December 2011:  Countries expressed their interest to establish a Wildlife Enforcement Network for West Asia and one for Central Asia 2.The CITES Secretariat has two on-going projects to assist countries in the development and implementation of sub-regional cooperation: –Feasibility study for West Asia Workshop in Kuwait on strengthening regional cooperation to combat wildlife crime in West Asia, October 2013 –Study by TRAFFIC on behalf of the CITES Secretariat on CITES implementation in the Eurasian Custom Union Final draft report was received 18 October

Study: Implementation of CITES in the Eurasian Customs Union (ECU) – Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia – and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. 11 Key international trade routes and neighbouring countries

Eurasian Customs Union (ECU) The ECU was established by Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia in 2007 and started to be implemented in July 2010 –resulted in the abolishment of internal border controls between the three countries –Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the ECU was agreed in 2010 and is expected to take place soon. –The future is also likely to see further enlargement of the ECU to include participants such as Armenia and Tajikistan. 12

Suggested activity under the GSC on Transboundary Cooperation Develop regional inter-agency and inter-governmental initiative to counter the illegal cross- border trade in endangered flora and fauna 13 To establish a Central Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network

Possible effects of CITES trade within ECU With the removal of controls at the internal ECU borders, CITES-listed wildlife can be moved freely within the ECU –Exploitation of the weakest link in the chain illegal trade entering the ECU by way of the route of least risk of detection –“Permit shopping” when wildlife traders are refused an import permit by one ECU member country, the shipment may enter the ECU by way of a permit granted by another member country 14

The CITES Secretariat stands ready, in cooperation with its ICCWC partners, to assist countries in the development and implementation of a Regional Enforcement Network in Central Asia. 15

Thank you for your attention! 16 Pia Jonsson