WILDLIFE CRIME

POLICY CONSIDERATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GOVERNMENT
Trade Regulation
Despite Government indications that it will
introduce measures to address the illegal ivory
trade, a disproportionate amount of resources
will be required to facilitate compliance in
relation to the relatively small group of traders.
It is therefore proposed that:
The HKSAR Government introduces a ban on the trade in ivory, consisting of a full ban on the
domestic trade, import and export, such that legal traders would be given a specified period to
sell their remaining “licensed stockpiles” after which no further ivory trade will be allowed and
remaining stock should be surrendered.
Better regulation to include due diligence on the source of wild animals and the collection of
statistics including but not limited to both the import and export of wild animals alive or dead
covering both captive bred and wild caught (including those crossing the boundary between
Hong Kong and Mainland China)
All live CITES animals should require possession permits irrespective of their origins (these
should be specific to individuals and have additional checks and balances attached
The HKSAR Government support relevant efforts to list threatened species on CITES Appendices,
such as proposed shark and pangolin listings at CITES CoP17 in 2016
Civil Society Liaison
Wildlife trafficking has expanded considerably
since 2010 and so to have the civil society
organisations working on varying aspects
of the issue in Hong Kong. As a result, AFCD
is on the front line with respect to engaging
with and responding to increasing information
and data requests by an expanding number
of interested and concerned members of civil
society. Specifically, the NGO community and
wildlife experts are in a position to positively
liaise with the Government, given their active
investigative and intelligence gathering work,
international connections, connections with
the public and proximity to the ground. It is
proposed that:
A framework for more active and regular engagement as regards civil society is established
The HKSAR Government educates and better communicates its overarching strategy to civil
society as regards addressing wildlife crime
AFCD consider compiling data and statistics on wildlife crime that are consistent with customs
data, with a view to establishing a Wildlife Crime Database and a protocol on the provision of data
to interested parties. This would serve to reduce resources in responding individually to such
parties and assist NGOs and experts working in the field and facilitate existing and future work
with the government
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