By contrast, enforcement of existing legislation and regulations is frequently insufficient. One representative referred to his country's conservation laws as a 'paper tiger'. In every country, the inability of customs officers, wildlife enforcement agency staff and others to identify turtle species with any accuracy is a serious obstruction to effective enforcement. Without being able to identify animals in trade, it is nearly impossible to determine which species are traded legally and which are illegal. This problem is exploited by traders, who intentionally misidentify and make false declarations of the contents of shipments.
Capacity building is obviously essential if enforcement is to be improved.
Providing additional resources such as staff, office and equipment facilities and improved funding for work outside the office are primarily the responsibility of the respective governments. Other organisations have an important role in organising and providing training, preparing and distributing identification materials, and giving other practical assistance. These regulations, which were recently updated, are rarely observed when shipping live turtles for the food trade. Enforcement of IATA cargo regulations on carrier airlines is strongly recommended and could be encouraged significantly by pressure from airline business partners, authorities and the general public. The existing mechanisms to impose fines and other penalties on those individuals, companies and organisations who knowingly breach laws and regulations should be implemented.