Posted on 11 December
2012 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Royal Malaysian
Customs have made its largest ever seizure
of ivory in transit through the country,
finding 1,500 pieces of tusks hidden in
wooden crates purpose-built to look like
stacks of sawn timber.
The ivory, stashed in
ten crates which were divided between two
containers, were shipped from the port of
Lomé in Togo and were headed to China,
the Selangor State Customs Director Dato’
Azis Yacub told a press conference today.
The shipment also transited
through Algeciras in Spain before it headed
for West Port in Port Kelang, one of Peninsular
Malaysia’s busiest container terminals.
The two containers,
declared to be carrying “wooden floor tiles
acajou”, were held on December 7th and inspected.
After removing the top layer of the crates,
officers found the ivory in a secret compartment
measuring about one metre deep.
A Malaysian company
based at the port is being investigated
and if convicted, the company could face
up to RM500,000 in fines and individuals
a maximum of five years in jail, or both.
Togo is known to be
a major source of ivory exiting Africa.
Although it has never reported any seizures
of its own, the country is regularly implicated
as the source of ivory seized in other locations.
This is the fourth seizure
of African elephant ivory at Port Kelang
and the sixth in the country since July
2011. In September 2011, 695 elephant tusks
weighing close to two tonnes were seized
in Port Kelang and in January this year,
another seizure in December 2011 yielded
1.4 tonnes of ivory, and in January this
year, a consignment weighing 492 kilogrammes
was also seized there, seizures have also
were been made in other ports of Penang
and Johor.
Concern over Malaysia’s
role as a transit point for illegal ivory
shipments was highlighted at a meeting of
CITES (the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora) this July: the country was asked
to report on what action it has taken to
address the issue.
Azis called on the public
to continue providing the department with
information that would help it stop more
shipments like these. He assured that informants
identities would be kept confidential and
a financial reward would be paid if the
information led to a successful case.
“TRAFFIC commends the
customs department on its vigilance and
hopes to see it pursue all leads towards
finding the criminals that are using Malaysia
as a transit point for ivory,” said Dr William
Schaedla, TRAFFIC’s Director in South-East
Asia.
“We also urge authorities
to ensure proper systems are in place to
catalogue and stockpile the seized ivory,”
Schaedla.
TRAFFIC also encourages
all the countries implicated in the seizure
to investigate the case thoroughly, so that
those behind the shipment can be traced
and brought to justice.
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New agreement between
South Africa and Viet Nam - A turning point
in tackling rhino poaching crisis, say WWF,
TRAFFIC
Posted on 10 December
2012 | Ha Noi, Viet Nam, 10th December —
A pivotal moment in efforts to tackle the
current rhino poaching crisis took place
today as the governments of South Africa
and Viet Nam signed a Memorandum of Understanding
to improve co-operation between the two
states on biodiversity conservation and
protection including tackling illegal wildlife
trafficking.
The Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) was signed by H.E. Edna Molewa, Minister
for the South African Department of Water
and Environmental Affairs and H.E. Cao Duc
Phat, Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Viet Nam during a visit by
Minister Molewa to Viet Nam. The main elements
of co-operation outlined in the MoU include
the field of biodiversity management, conservation,
protection, law enforcement, compliance
with CITES and other relevant legislation
and Conventions. Based on equality and mutual
benefit it comes into force on the date
of signature and notes specifically that
illegal wildlife trafficking remains a global
challenge.
Speaking at the signing
ceremony, H.E. Edna Molewa said: “South
Africa is looking forward to receiving the
close co-operation from Vietnamese partners
to stop the illegal trade of rhino horns
from South Africa to Vietnam."
H.E. Cao Duc Phat, Minister
of Agriculture and Rural Development, Viet
Nam also recognised the importance of co-operation
between the two countries, stating that:
"Fighting against crime on wildlife
regulations especially on the rare, precious
and endangered species including rhinos
and its derivatives are always of concern
to the Vietnam government.”
He stressed: “The Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development, in
co-operation with related ministries and
agencies, are submitting the Prime Minister
to issue a Decision on banning the import
of all rhino specimens to Vietnam in 2012.”
Although the MoU between
South Africa and Viet Nam refers only in
general terms to addressing illegal wildlife
smuggling, there are clear indications that
rhino horn trafficking will be top of the
new agenda on co-operation between the two
nations.
“WWF and TRAFFIC welcome
the new agreement, which marks a turning
point in efforts to protect Africa’s rhinos
and look forward to seeing action being
undertaken by both countries to end the
current rhino poaching crisis,” said Stuart
Chapman, WWF-Greater Mekong Conservation
Director.
“South Africa and Viet
Nam have publicly signalled their intention
to get tough on the criminal syndicates
behind the rhino poaching spree,” said Chapman.
Currently hundreds of
rhinos are being poached each year in South
Africa, their horns hacked off and smuggled
to meet the soaring demand in Viet Nam,
where rhino horn is in demand as a supposed
“miracle medicine”, despite a lack of supporting
medical evidence.
Asian-run criminal syndicates
are believed to be behind much of the crime,
with couriers paid to smuggle poached horns
from Africa to Asia, where they end up in
the hands of wealthy Vietnamese. TRAFFIC’s
report released in August 2012 identified
Viet Nam as the prime destination for much
of the illegal rhino horn.
Rhino poaching numbers
in South Africa have surged from 13 in 2007,
to over 600 in 2012. In addition, there
have been 246 people arrested in connection
with the poaching of rhinos and the illegal
trade of rhino horn in South Africa in 2012
alone.
In 2010, TRAFFIC convened
a meeting between South African enforcement
officials and their counterparts in Viet
Nam to establish links between the two as
part of a major effort to address the rhino
horn crisis. This meeting and a subsequent
return visit by Vietnamese officials to
South Africa, laid the foundation for today’s
intergovernmental agreement.
“Rhino poaching is a
key burning conservation issue, and through
the public commitments of the two governments
at this signing ceremony today, we have
seen promising beginnings of collaborative
action. This commitment now needs to be
turned into urgent action to turn the crisis
around,” said Dr. Naomi Doak, Coordinator
of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia–Greater Mekong
Programme.
“The world’s rhino populations
are hanging by a thread, and today the opportunity
was taken to throw them another lifeline,”
said Dr. Doak.
