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© WWF, James Morgan
Illegal Wildlife Trade in Maritime Supply Chains
Despite shipping being a major conduit for wildlife trafficking, maritime industry public and private sector organisations still have low levels of awareness on this issue.

The absence of platforms for collaborative action against illegal wildlife trade (IWT) across the sector makes tracking illegal wildlife products along these complex supply chains a challenge – one that only regional and cross-sectoral cooperation can counteract.

© WWF
What WWF is doing

To enable the maritime sector to take an active part in anti-trafficking measures, WWF has worked with partners to:

  • Develop a compendium of illegal wildlife trade red flags and key risk indicators for wildlife smuggling in the shipping sector
  • Organise a global roundtable event for private shipping lines, freight forwarding companies and port operators, with public sector organisations, policy-making bodies and non-governmental organisations to identify areas of improvement for IWT
  • Organise IWT roundtable events for Thailand and Hong Kong’s maritime sector, bringing together representatives from nine government departments (customs, environmental police etc), development partners, and the private sector shipping and freight companies)
  • Provide expertise on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and enforcement guidance in suspicious cargos
  • Influence decisions made at the 44th Meeting of the Facilitation Committee of the International Maritime Organisation
  • Initiate and support the development of new International Maritime Organisation Global guidelines for the shipping sector on wildlife trafficking
  • Organise a joint webinar for Hong Kong shipping associations on the amendment to include wildlife crime under the Organised and Serious Crime Ordinance

Future actions:

  • Organise a roundtable with seaport representatives and maritime supply chain stakeholders in Singapore and Japan
  • Provide training for World Customs Organisation (WCO) with key individuals from the financial and shipping sector
  • Create an exhibition on illegal wildlife trade at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum in partnership with the Hong Kong Shipowners Association
  • Translate the Red Flags Compendium to simplified Chinese characters

Learn more