WILDLIFE CRIME

WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING, GLOBAL AND ORGANISED CRIME
justice responses and law enforcement efforts
aimed at, inter alia, dealing with transnational
organized crime, corruption and moneylaundering
linked to …trafficking in wildlife
and poaching” 24 .
Importantly, the United States and China are
stepping up efforts to combat wildlife crime
and in September 2015 announced their
intention to enact ‘nearly complete bans’ on
the import and export of ivory 25 . In October
2015, the China’s State Forestry Administration
also announced a 1-year ban on the import of
‘trophy ivory’ 26 . Jointly the two governments
have pledged to increase cooperative efforts,
including: identifying and addressing illegal
wildlife trade routes and supply chains;
strengthening domestic and global law
enforcement efforts; and working with other
governments, international governmental
organisations, civil society, the private sector,
and local communities, for maximum impact
on stemming the illegal wildlife trade 27 .
ASEAN Member States at the 10th ASEAN
Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime
(AMMTC) in October 2015 also reached
consensus to officially add the “trafficking
of wildlife and timber” to the list of regional
priority transnational crime threats 28 .
Accordingly, wildlife and forest crime will now
be considered as important as other crimes
needing collective regional action, including
drug and precursor trafficking, human
trafficking and smuggling, terrorism, and arms
smuggling 29 . These States are now calling for
a stronger response by law enforcement and
criminal justice institutions.
Furthermore, on 8th June, 2015, the
International Air Transport Association (IATA)
and the Secretariat of CITES signed an MOU to
cooperate on reducing illegal trade in wildlife
and their products, as well as ensuring the
safe and secure transport of legally traded
wildlife 30 . This reflects the growing trend in
the industry to ban or restrict the transport of
certain wildlife products 31 .
Meanwhile, numerous international meetings
focusing on wildlife trade are on-going,
including INTERPOL’s annual meetings of the
Wildlife, Pollution and Fisheries Crime Working
Groups and its recent biennial conferences on
environmental crime.
Hong Kong
The obligations of Hong Kong under CITES
and the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) require the Government to address
the threats that trade within and through the
Territory pose to biodiversity globally. Notably,
concerns associated with extensive wildlife
crime / trade into and through Hong Kong,
and specific recommendations for government
action to combat the problem were made by
experts engaged as part of the Biodiversity and
Strategy Action Plan (BSAP) process in 2014 32 .
In December 2015, lawmakers from across
the political spectrum in Hong Kong gathered
in the Legislative Council to unanimously
pass a motion which called on the Hong Kong
Government to strengthen the fight against
wildlife crime and also legislate for a commercial
ban on ivory trading in Hong Kong 33 . The
historic vote, although non-binding, was passed
unanimously by 37 out of 38 legislators present
with no ‘No’ votes or abstentions. It marked a
rare display of unity in Hong Kong’s polarized
post-Occupy/Umbrella movement political
landscape, and placed the onus back on the
Hong Kong Government to quickly legislate the
measures called for in the motion.
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