The document discusses CITES support to combat illegal trade in Siamese Rosewood. It provides an introduction to CITES and outlines how Siamese rosewood is listed in CITES Appendix II with an annotation regarding logs, sawn wood, and veneer sheets. It discusses challenges of illegal rosewood trade, its impacts, and strategies to combat it, including strengthening law enforcement cooperation nationally and internationally. The document also introduces support that can be provided by ICCWC to facilitate analysis, cooperation, and capacity building efforts.

1. CITES support to combat illegal
trade in Siamese Rosewood
Pia Jonsson
Enforcement Support Officer
CITES Secretariat
Regional Dialogue on Preventing
Illegal Logging and Trading of
Siamese Rosewood
!
18-19 Dec 2014, Bangkok

2. Outline
I. Short introduction to CITES
II. Siamese rosewood
- CITES listing
- Annotation
- Timber trade study
- Illegal wildlife trade data 2013
- Specific case-by-case data of illegal trade in
rosewood
2

3. Outline continue
III. Illegal trade in rosewood
- Challenges
- Impact
- How to combat illegal trade in rosewood?
IV. ICCWC support
- Facilitating analysis of national responses
- Strengthening cooperation and coordination
- Building capacity on national level
V. Introduction to ITTO-CITES Program
3

4. I. Short introduction to CITES
4

5. Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
➢ Multilateral Environmental Agreement
➢ Agreed in Washington, D.C. on 3 March 1973
➢ Entered into force in 1975
➢ Currently 180 Parties

6. • CITES is the preeminent global legal instrument for
regulating international trade in wild animals and plants
• CITES serves to both
– facilitate legal, sustainable and traceable trade
– intercept illegal wildlife trade
CITES

7. CITES Appendices
Appendix I:
• Species threatened with extinction.
• International commercial trade in wild-taken specimens is
generally prohibited
• 3% of all CITES-listed species
!
Appendix II:
•Species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but for which
trade must be controlled to avoid their becoming so.
•International commercial trade is allowed but regulated
•96 % of CITES-listed species
!
Appendix III:
•Species for which a country is asking Parties to help with its
protection.
•International trade is permitted but regulated.

8. CITES Species
• CITES regulates international trade in
approximately 35 000 species of animals and
plants
– 29,500 Plants and 5,500 Animals
• To date, more than 400 tree species are
included in the CITES Appendices
• More than 290 high-value timber species,
have been listed over the last two years in
CITES Appendix II and III

9. Dalbergia species listed in CITES
11
Appendices
I II III
Dalbergia
Madagascar)
Dalbergia cochinchinensis
Dalbergia darienensis
[population of Panama
(Panama)]
Dalbergia granadillo
Dalbergia nigra
Dalbergia retusa
Dalbergia stevensonii
Dalbergia tucurensis
(Nicaragua)
Dipteryx panamensis (Costa
Rica, Nicaragua

10. II. Siamese rosewood
12

11. Dalbergia cochinchinensis
• Dalbergia cochinchinensis , synonym D. cambodiana
(Notification to the Parties 2014/061)
• CITES listed in Appendix II
Annotation #5: Logs, sawn wood and veneer sheets
13
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12.
Definition of logs, sawn wood, veneer sheets
Resolution Conf. 10.13 (Rev. CoP15)
Implementation of the Convention for timber species
Paragraph c) the following definitions be applied with respect to annotations
in the CITES Appendices:
14
i)
Logs
All wood in the rough, whether or not stripped of bark or
sapwood, or roughly squared, for processing, notably
into sawn wood, pulpwood or veneer sheets (HS code
44.03 );
ii) Sawn wood
Wood simply sawn lengthwise or produced by a profile-
chipping process. Sawn wood normally exceeds 6 mm in
thickness (HS code 44.06 , HS code 44.07 );
iii) Veneer sheets Thin layers or sheets of wood of uniform thickness,
usually 6 mm or less, usually peeled or sliced, for use in
making plywood, for veneering furniture, veneer
containers, etc. (HS code 44.08)

13. Definitions
15
“Branches and roots,
diameter from 2cm to 20cm
length between 20cm and 200cm”
LOGS?

14. Timber Trade Study
• CITES Decision 15.35
• The Timber Trade Study will assist the CITES
Working Group on Annotations in its review of
annotations for tree species included in
Appendices II and III.
• The Timber Trade Study focuses on four
species listed using annotation #5 (logs, sawn
wood and veneer) and annotation # 6 (adds
plywood).
16

15. CITES Timber Trade Study
Selected species and range countries
• Dalbergia cochinchinensis (Siamese rosewood):
range countries in Southeast Asia
• Pericopsis elata (Afromosia, African teak): range
countries in central and western Africa
• Swietenia macrophylla (mahogany) and Cedrela
odorata (Spanish cedar): range countries in Central
and South America
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16. Trade in specimens of tree species included in
CITES Appendices II and III
– Notification to the Parties No. 2014/053
and 2014/057 requests Parties to
provide information on trade in tree
Appendices II and III species and that
are used in the manufacture of wood
products,
– Information on trade in products
manufactured using Siamese rosewood
is of particular interest.
– Information to be provided to the CITES
Secretariat by 31 January 2015
19
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17. Illegal wildlife trade data 2013
• Notification to the Parties No. 2014/050:
– Seeks 2013 illegal trade data (e.g overall seizure
and prosecution statistics) by 19 December 2014.
– Specific case-by-case data of illegal trade in great
apes, marine turtles, rosewood and red sander
– Data to be used in a global research and analysis
study on wildlife and forest crime made by UNODC
with support from ICCWC.
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18. III. Illegal trade in rosewood
21

19. Illegal trade in rosewood
• Substantial volume of CITES listed rosewood is
illegally exported from Madagascar, Southeast Asia
and Central America on a regular basis
– More than 4,000 tons of rosewood from Madagascar were
seized by authorities in various transit and destination
countries between November 2013 and April 2014
– Zero export quota for Dalbergia and Diospyros species
from Madagascar until mid August 2015
• The illegal trade in rosewood is lucrative, well
organized, transnational, involves corruption and
poses an immediate risk to people
– This crime must be tackled as other serious
transnational organized crime!
22

20. Impacts of wildlife and forest crime
• Security
– personal risks for rangers/
park staff
• Rule of law
– unfair competition between
legitimate companies, abiding
by the laws, and irresponsible
actors who make a profit out
of circumventing the laws and
regulations in this area
23
• Economy and ecotourism
– robs the country of revenue
!
• Livelihoods
– undermines future timber
management options and
contravenes CITES
• Ecosystems
– damages the integrity of forests
– leads to the unsustainable use of
species

21. Siamese rosewood from Thailand
• Notification to the Parties No. 2014/032 issued
4 July 2014:
– Urges all Parties to assist Thailand by checking
shipments of timber, in order to stop any illegal
trade in specimens of Dalbergia cochinchinensis.
– Parties that seize illegal shipments of such timber
are requested to communicate information about
the seizures to the Management Authority of
Thailand and to the CITES Secretariat.
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22. How to combat illegal trade in
Siamese rosewood?
• Treat illegal trade in Siamese rosewood as serious
transnational organized crime, in legislation and through
relevant agencies
o Domestic criminal offences (participation in an
organized criminal group, money laundering,
corruption and obstruction of justice)
o Law enforcement efforts must result in seizures,
arrests, prosecutions, convictions and strong penalties
o Identify key enforcement authorities that need to
cooperate
25

23. Law Enforcement Agency (LEA)
• A government agency responsible for the
enforcement of the law.
• LEAs operates within a jurisdiction and have
geographic restriction on their ability to apply their
powers.
• National level: e.g police, Customs, prosecutor,
coast guard, military, wildlife
enforcement agencies, financial
intelligence units, anti-corruption
units, etc
• Regional level: ASEANAPOL, RILO A/P
• International level: INTERPOL, WCO
26

24. Law enforcement cooperation
• Strengthen wildlife enforcement cooperation and
coordination among law enforcement agencies and
wildlife authorities on national, sub-regional, regional
and international level
– National level: e.g National Environmental Security
Task Force (NEST), National Wildlife Enforcement
Networks
– Sub-regional/regional level: e.g ASEAN-WEN
– International level: INTERPOL’s Wildlife Crime
Working Group, Operation Cobra etc.
27

25. Strengthen the control of trade in rosewood
• CITES Management Authorities to ensure that CITES
permits meet all requirements
• Strict border controls – exports and imports
• Joint cross border operations
• Exchange information about illegal trade in rosewood
between source-transit-destination countries so
enforcement action can be taken
• Countries are encouraged to participate in international
coordinated operations such as Operation Cobra
28

26. Exchange of intelligence/information
• Use existing secured channels for exchange of intelligence!
– WCO
• Rosewood CENcomm
– INTERPOL
• I 24/7 – Global police communications system
• INTERPOL Notices - international requests for cooperation or
alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical
crime-related information
– ASEANAPOL?
• UNODC –FAO research on the feasibility of an ASEAN-wide
mechanism to share intelligence on wildlife/forest crimes.
29

27. Work Intelligence led!
30
Law
Enforcement
Planning,
Decision-
making and
Action
1. Planning/decision
2. Collection
3. Processing
4. Analysis
5. Dissemination

28. Make use existing tools available in the
toolbox
• Specialized investigative techniques
– Controlled delivery
– Electronic and other forms of
surveillance
– Under cover operations/informants
• Follow the money, asset recovery
• Forensic technology
31

29. Long term strategies
• Demand reduction
– key role players in the private sector need to be
engaged
• High level commitment
– effective implementation of agreed
commitments such as the East Asia Summit
Declaration on combating wildlife trafficking
• Engagement of local communities
– education and awareness campaigns
• Anti-corruption
– program to combat corruption
32

30. IV. ICCWC-support

31.
International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime
35
ICCWC - coordinated action to
combat wildlife crime

32. What is ICCWC?
36
• Collaborative effort by CITES, INTERPOL, UNODC,
World Bank, and WCO
• The Consortium was formally launched in November
2010 during the International Tiger Forum, hosted in
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
• Mandate: to supporting national law enforcement
agencies, regional wildlife enforcement agreements,
bodies and networks in responding to transnational
wildlife crime through available expertise and
recourses and to raise awareness of wildlife crime.

33. ICCWC Wildlife and Forest Crime
Analytic Toolkit
38
Technical resource for countries to
undertake a national assessment:
!
-Understand main issues to wildlife and
forest offences
!
-Analyse strength and weakness of
preventive and criminal justice responses
!
-Identify need for technical assistance
and capacity building
!
-Design work plan for technical
assistance and capacity building

34. 39
• Legislation
!
• Enforcement
!
• Judiciary & Prosecution
!
• Drivers & Prevention
!
• Data & Analysis
Wildlife and Forest Crime
Analytic Toolkit

35. ICCWC tools
!
ICCWC Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit
See: http://www.cites.org/eng/prog/iccwc.php/Tools
40
ICCWC tool

36. Examples of ICCWC support to combat
illegal trade in rosewood
• Operational Capacity Building for countries in Africa and Asia
that participated in Operation COBRA II
➢Seizures of rosewood
• Rosewood workshop for Customs officers (WCO)
➢Rosewood CENcomm was set up to facilitate information
sharing about illegal rosewood trade
• Request from Madagascar to deploy an ICCWC Wildlife
Incidence Support Team (WIST)
• Request from Madagascar to implement the ICCWC Wildlife
and forest crime analytic toolkit
• Guidelines for forensic analysis timber species
42

37. Some ongoing ICCWC activities
• Implementation of the ICCWC Wildlife and forest crime
analytic toolkit
• Guidelines for forensic analysis of timber species
• Support to Operation Cobra III
• Controlled delivery workshops
• Wildlife Incident Support Team (WIST)
• E-learning module on anti-money laundering
43

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V. ITTO-CITES Program

39. ITTO-CITES Program
45
ITTO-CITES Program
• The ITTO-CITES Program is a multi-year project
between CITES and the INTERNATIONAL
TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION (ITTO).
• Overall objective:
• To ensure that international trade in CITES-
listed timber species is consistent with their
sustainable management and conservation.
• The goal is to help countries strengthen their
capacities to:
• make non-detriment findings,
• enhance national legislation and enforcement,
• generally ensure the effective implementation of
CITES.
!

40. 47
• Financial support of the European Union together with
other donors (U.S.A, Switzerland, Germany, Norway,
Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand and the private sector)
• Phase 1: 2007-2010
• Phase 2: 2012-2015
• A proposal to continue the Program from 2016 is being
developed by ITTO and CITES in consultation with the EU
and other donors
!
ITTO-CITES Program
Funding and Duration

41.
ITTO-CITES Program
Scope
• Funds cover 3 tropical regions – Africa, Latin
America and Asia
• Focus of assistance on significant exporters of
main CITES listed tropical timber species in trade
(Pericopsis elata – African Teak/afrormosia;
Gonystylus spp. – ramin; Swietenia macrophylla –
mahogany);
• Phase 2 extending to
• (Aquileria/Gyrinops spp., Cedrela odorata,
Dalbergia spp., Diospyros spp., Prunus africana)
48

42.
ITTO-CITES Program for Implementing CITES Listings of Tropical Timber Species
http://www.itto.int/technical_report/

43.
More information
51
!
ITTO-CITES Program for Implementing CITES
Listings of Tropical Timber Species
http://www.itto.int/cites_programme/
!
Video
http://cites.org/eng/cites_itto_151014

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Thank you for your attention
www.cites.org
E-mail: info@cites.org
pia.jonsson@cites.org