Promoting the use of existing tools and services EU and AFRICA TWIX Promoting the use of existing tools and services Katalin Kecse-Nagy TRAFFIC Second Global Meeting of WENs Sept 2016, Johannesburg

TWIX TWIX = Internet tool developed to facilitate information exchange and international co-operation between wildlife law enforcement officials – currently implemented in Europe and Central Africa “European Union / AFRICA - Trade in Wildlife Information eXchange” 2 components: mailing list database of seizures Not a WEN, for the exclusive use of enforcement officers

Establishment EU-TWIX system established in October 2005 by the Belgian Federal Police, Customs, CITES Management Authority and TRAFFIC AFRICA-TWIX email list established in March 2016 with the participation of Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo, with the support of the Commission of Central African Forests (COMIFAC) Africa-TWIX is in a pilot phase but strong support from African countries NOT duplicated but ADAPTED to the Central African context/needs TRAFFIC manages the systems on behalf of the partners

Users enforcement agencies including: Customs Police Environmental inspection services Prosecutors and judges Veterinary and phytosanitary inspection services CITES Management Authorities International/regional organizations CITES Secretariat, Interpol, UNODC, WCO, EC, Europol No. of users In Europe – close to 900 In Central Africa – over 60 Mention MoUs with some of these orgs – WCO, CITES Sect! Complementarity with Interpol, WCO and other offical channels for info sharing – NO NOMINAL/SENSITIVE INFO shared

Geographic coverage EU-TWIX AFRICA-TWIX All EU MS plus neighbouring countries

Mailing lists Connects officials from countries via their email address Access-restricted, only enforcement (except the TWIX Manager) Quick sharing of seizures news/alerts No nominal information shared Triggers seizures and facilitates investigations Help with identification of seized specimens/products, locating rescue centres etc. Sharing of resources and expertise (e.g. lab analyses) – requests for various assistance Reveals scope of illegal trade networks in the EU No. Of emails shared in Africa, since the start (March 2016): over 200 In Europe: about 400 per year in last years

Databases of seizures Countries keep control over and ownership of their data No nominal information Africa TWIX database under development - in the database: data fields adapted to local needs/request EU-TWIX – data transfer via WCO for many MS, database focuses on EU only Under development Adapted to needs identified by countries in the region http://eu-twix.org/ http://www.africa-twix.org/

directories on European laboratories, rescue centres for seized specimens, wildlife experts, and prices of specimens in trade Used to monitor current illegal trade patterns (e.g. species, countries, concealment methods most relevant in illegal trade): allows to determine enforcement priorities Focus in Africa: ID tools, national legislation, training materials,

Examples of use of the seizure data UNODC report – uses EU-TWIX data with the permission of the EU Member States

Some success factors Simple and easy to use (email) Connects wildlife enforcement officers across agencies Active support/facilitation by dedicated TWIX manager Adapting to the regional/specific needs Provides effective platform for regional collaboration Workshops to establish personal contacts/build trust Careful handling of data and information sharing – managed to keep exchanges/data confidential (no mis-use of TRAFFIC’s situation)

Thank you for your attention!