MISSISSAUGA,
Ontario, December 8, 2006 – Toronto company Ethiopian
Spices and one of its co-owners, Abdurahman Abdullahi
Ibrahim, were fined a total of $2,250 today in
the Ontario Court of Justice, Provincial Division.
The accused were found guilty on November 28,
2006 on charges of illegally importing rugs from
Ethiopia made from monkey skins.
An investigation conducted by
Environment Canada's Wildlife Enforcement Division
established that the accused unlawfully imported
seven rugs in October 2004 made from skins of
the black-and-white Colobus monkey. These rugs
were declared on Customs documents as plastic
rugs and the accused later testified that he believed
the rugs to be made from goat skins.
The black-and-white Colobus
monkey is a threatened species listed under Appendix
II of the Convention on International Trade of
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
It is protected under Canada's Wild Animal and
Plant Protection and Regulation of International
and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA) and
its regulations. The accused did not obtain the
Ethiopian CITES export permit required to legally
import the monkey skin rugs into Canada.
The species identification made
by investigating officers was confirmed through
physical examination at the Royal Ontario Museum
and through DNA extraction at Trent University.
Mr. Ibrahim, 35, of Toronto,
and Ethiopian Spices, located in Kensington Market
in Toronto, were jointly charged under WAPPRIITA.
Ethiopian Spices was ordered to pay a fine of
$1,000 plus a mandatory victim surcharge of $125.
Mr. Ibrahim was assessed identical penalties.
The illegally imported rugs were forfeited to
the Crown.
In the ruling, the Court noted
that the accused did not exercise adequate due
diligence to legally import these rugs. It stated
that, as a professional businessman who travels
to Ethiopia to purchase items for his store, he
has a greater responsibility than a tourist to
determine the requirements to import such rugs,
to declare them properly to the Canada Border
Services Agency (CBSA) and to verify the species
involved.
It noted that it was insufficient
to rely on the word of the vendor that the rugs
were made from goat and to rely on the shipper
to make a declaration to CBSA, which in this case
was false.
The black-and-white Colobus
monkey is apparently abundant in Ethiopia. Even
though the trade in rugs made from this species
is illegal in Ethiopia, these types of rugs, which
are used by Ethiopians as decorations and good
luck symbols and for religious ceremonies, continue
to be sold in Ethiopian markets. The rugs in this
case were made from close to 100 monkey skins
and have an estimated commercial value of between
$16,000 and $18,000.
Environment Canada is the lead
agency responsible for implementing CITES on behalf
of the federal government. CITES sets controls
on the international trade and movement of animal
and plant species that have been, or may be, threatened
due to excessive commercial exploitation. WAPPRIITA
is the legislative vehicle by which Canada meets
its obligations under CITES.
Gary Colgan - Director, Wildlife Enforcement Division
Jack Saunders - Communications Advisor/Media Relations
