Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 4 • Number 18 • 8th October 2004

Thailand to Lead Initiative Against Wildlife Trafficking

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In his opening speech to the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP-13) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) in Bangkok on 2 October, Thailand’s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stressed the need for global and regional efforts to fight organised criminal activities related to international trade in wildlife. He proposed that Thailand could take the lead in forming a regional law enforcement network to combat wildlife crime, offering to host a meeting in 2005 to work out the details of establishing such a network. According to WildAid Thailand, a non-profit group committed to fighting wildlife trafficking, organised crime is attracted to wildlife trade because of the high profits, which can reach up to 800 percent in some cases. Sen Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of WildAid, said “This proposal from Thaksin is excellent, this is what many of the conservationists have been urging Thailand to do. And he even set a deadline for it.” Conservation groups say that cross-border trafficking in wildlife was difficult to curb owing to few or no laws, the low priority given to it by governments and poor resources and training for enforcement. Roger Lahanan, from the Asian Conservation Alliance, said that “this region badly needs such a body proposed by the Thai Prime Minster and we’ll work with the government to make sure it happens as soon as possible.” Greenpeace, however, was sceptical of Prime Minister Shinawatra’s comments, saying it wanted “action and not words”.

On the sidelines of COP-13, the CITES Secretariat on 8 October announced the 2004 export quotas for Caspian Sea sturgeon, following an agreement by the five Caspian Sea states to significantly reduce their caviar export quotas for this year. The allocation had been delayed as the Secretariat was awaiting submission of the required conservation information (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 10 September 2004).

For background, see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 23 September 2004.

ICTSD Reporting; “Proposal for Wildlife Interpol Gets Support,” TERRAVIVA, 4 October 2004; ENB, Vol. 21 No. 35, 3 October 2004; CITES authorizes 2004 export quotas for Caspian Sea caviar,” CITES, 8 October 2004.