The South Africa – Viet Nam Rhino Horn Trade Nexus (PDF ... - WWF

SiTuATion AT THE SouRCE: SouTH AfRiCA
SOUTH AFRICA’S RHINOS AND CITES
On 13 October 1975, CITES entered into force in South Africa when the country became the 15th
nation to join the Convention. Two years later, in 1977, all rhino species were placed in Appendix I of
CITES, a listing which prohibits all international commercial trade in rhinos and their parts and derivatives
except under exceptional circumstances. Since then, the CITES Parties have moved to adopt a
series of rhinoceros resolutions and decisions to further strengthen the global effort to prevent illicit
trade in rhino horn. Commencing at CITES CoP3 (New Delhi, India, 1981), in Resolution Conf. 3.11
on Trade in rhinoceros horns, CITES recommended that both Party and non-Party governments prevent
rhino horn sales and trade. At CITES CoP6 (Ottawa, Canada, 1987), the Parties agreed Resolution Conf.
6.10 on Trade in rhinoceros products that called for:
a complete prohibition on all sales and trade, internal and international, of rhinoceros parts and derivatives,
especially horn, whether whole or in any other form, including personal effects, but excluding
(solely) non-commercial movement of legitimate hunting trophies where appropriate full CITES documents
are issued to that effect.
This latter exception was made in reference to Resolution Conf. 2.11 (Rev.) on Trade in hunting trophies
of species listed in Appendix I, which has long allowed legal sport hunting trophies to qualify as “noncommercial”
personal effects trade and be exported accordingly. This resolution aims to allow trade in
hunting trophies from Appendix I species in cases where regulated hunting serves to enhance the survival
of the species concerned. Thus, South Africa has allowed White Rhino trophies to be exported
since 1979 pursuant to this resolution.
At CITES CoP9 (Fort Lauderdale, USA, 1994), the two earlier resolutions were consolidated into
Resolution Conf. 9.14 on Conservation of rhinoceros in Asia and Africa, which still remains in effect today
(being most recently amended by the CITES Parties in 2010). In recognition of South Africa’s success
with rhino conservation in general and the management of White Rhino hunting trophies specifically,
at CITES CoP9, the CITES Parties also agreed that the White Rhinoceros C. s. simum population of
South Africa did not meet the criteria for Appendix I listing and transferred the population to
Appendix II with an annotation stating:
For the exclusive purpose of allowing international trade in live animals to appropriate and acceptable
destinations and hunting trophies. All other specimens shall be deemed to be specimens of species
included in Appendix I and the trade in them shall be regulated accordingly.
At the time of this decision in 1994, South Africa became the only rhino range State with a population
listed in Appendix II of the Convention; a decade later, in 2004, Swaziland’s White Rhino population
was also accorded Appendix II status with a partial annotation for live sales and hunting only, but with
quotas set as percentage of total rhino numbers. National implementation of the annotation has
evolved over the years in the face of criticism that live animal exports were not initially subjected to
careful scrutiny. International trade in rhinos was until recently controlled by various pieces of provincial
legislation which allowed some degree of discretional interpretation in terms of implementation.
From 1 May 2010, however, National CITES Regulations took effect, centralising control under the
Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). Thus, South Africa has finally established a policy whereby
applications for the export of live rhinos to zoos and safari parks around the world must include a
letter from the CITES Scientific Authority of the importing country stating that it is satisfied that the
proposed recipient of a living rhino specimen is suitably equipped to house and care for it in accordance
with Resolution Conf. 11.20. Since 2011, only World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (WAZA)
member zoos and safari parks are eligible for exports of live rhinos from South Africa (Meintjes, 2011).
South Africa also requires a statement that the country of import has adequate legislation to ensure
that the live specimen will only be used for the purpose indicated on the CITES export and import permits
in order to prevent parts and derivatives of live specimens being subsequently used for purposes
other than those stated on the permit. These improvements should ensure a higher degree of compliance
in the future.
In other rhino-related developments under CITES, at the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties
(CoP14), in June 2007, the Parties agreed in Decision 14.88 that all rhino range States in Africa and
Asia, as well as any other Party that has “stocks of rhinoceros horns and derivatives thereof” to declare
the status of their stocks before CoP15 in a prescribed format to be determined by the Secretariat and
TRAFFIC. TRAFFIC was also authorized to analyse the rhino horn stock submissions and report back to
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES.
CoP15 in the comprehensive TRAFFIC/IUCN report “on the national and continental conservation status of
African and Asian rhinoceros species, trade in specimens of rhinoceros, stocks of specimens of rhinoceros and
stock management, incidents of illegal killing of rhinoceroses, enforcement issues, and conservation actions and
management strategies, with an evaluation of their effectiveness” as mandated in Resolution Conf. 9.14.
In June 2008, at the 57th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, a proposal to convene a task force
to examine increases in rhino poaching and illegal trade in rhino horns was agreed in recognition of
increasing evidence of serious levels of threat to rhino populations in Africa. A CITES Rhinoceros
Enforcement Task Force meeting was subsequently held 18-19 November 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya with
representatives from China, Hong Kong, Kenya, India, Mozambique, Nepal, South Africa, Thailand,
Viet Nam, Yemen and Zimbabwe in attendance. The Lusaka Agreement Task Force, INTERPOL and the
U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime also participated.
TRAFFIC raised concerns at CoP14 in June 2007 about the alarming upsurge in rhino poaching, particularly
in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the rising prominence of trade in
rhino horns from South Africa, including horns acquired through legal means on private properties
(e.g. trophy hunting or acquisition of registered horns) that were then subsequently laundered into
il legal trade (Milledge, 2007). At CoP15, in March 2010, the TRAFFIC/IUCN report documented escalating
incidences of rhino poaching in Africa and illegal trade in rhino horns between Africa and Asia,
identifying South Africa and Zimbabwe as the principal source countries and Viet Nam as the leading
consuming country. In turn, the Parties adopted a series of decisions under the Convention to support
rhino conservation, including Decision 15.71 calling for the CITES Secretariat to:
a) examine the implementation of Resolution Conf. 9.14 (Rev. CoP15) in those range States where illegal
killing of rhinoceros poses a significant threat to populations of rhinoceros, particularly Zimbabwe and
South Africa;
b) examine progress with regards to curtailing illegal trade in rhinoceros parts and derivatives by implicated
States, particularly Viet Nam; and
c) report on the implementation of Resolution Conf. 9.14 (Rev. CoP15) at the 61st, 62nd and 63rd
meetings of the Standing Committee.
In a related development, the Parties agreed Decision 15.72 which urged the CITES Secretariat to “seek
funds to convene a joint CITES Ivory and Rhinoceros Enforcement Task Force” that specifically identified South
Africa, Zimbabwe and Viet Nam as priority countries for attendance. It was envisaged that the Task Force
would “undertake an exchange of intelligence regarding smuggling of ivory and rhinoceros specimens and develop
strategies for combating illegal trade.” This meeting was held 17-19 May 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya, and was
attended by 12 countries, namely China, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nepal, the Philippines, South
Africa, Thailand, the U.K., Tanzania, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe. INTERPOL, the Lusaka Agreement Task
Force, the World Bank and the World Customs Organization were also all represented.
The focus on South Africa and rhino issues in CITES circles continues, and not surprisingly the country
is a member of the Rhino Working Group that was set up at the 61st meeting of the CITES Standing
Committee in August 2011.
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