Crime and punishment in the wildlife trade - WWF UK

Part of the answer may be the introduction of some version of a “due diligence” approach,
whereby the expertise and good practice of reputable traders who could identify and isolate
examples of illegal trading is harnessed. Those legitimate traders, using an appropriate code of
conduct, could also be involved in intelligence gathering. This aspect is further discussed on
page 26.
Over time, the law has evolved to offer an increasing level of protection to wildlife and the
environment. The law in the UK is currently shaped by the country’s membership of the
European Union. Regulations developed by the European Community 7 , and directly applicable
in all member states, set out a control scheme that implements and strengthens the principal
international legal instrument, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Flora and Fauna 1973 (CITES). The legal responses that have been adopted to counter the
illegal wildlife trade will be explained in detail in Section 2 of this report and, along with
reflections in subsequent sections on the efficacy and limitations of the law as it currently
stands, will form the basis of its recommendations.
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The terms EU and EC are not interchangeable. The EC is but one component of a wider concept of European Union
that encompasses more than just the ECSC Treaty, the Euratom Treaty and the European Community Treaty (Treaty of
Rome 1957). The applicable legislative provisions enacted under the Treaty of Rome (as amended) are made under the
auspices of the EC Treaty, hence Regulation 338/97/EC, and thus the term EC will be used throughout when referring
to secondary legislation enacted by virtue of powers granted by the Treaty of Rome.
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