EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 26.2.2016 COM(2016) 87 final COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking {SWD(2016) 38 final}



COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking 1. Setting the scene Wildlife trafficking has become one of the world's most profitable organised crimes. The exact scale is difficult to quantify, but different sources estimate the profits from such trafficking at between EUR 8 and EUR 20 billion annually. It covers a broad range of protected species, including elephants and rhinos, corals, pangolins, tigers and great apes. A growing problem worldwide… The illicit ivory trade has more than doubled since 2007, and is over three times greater than it was in 1998. Between 2007 and 2013, rhino poaching increased by 7000% in South Africa, endangering the very survival of this species. More than 4000 tonnes of highly endangered rosewood suspected to have been illegally exported from Madagascar were seized by the authorities in various transit and destination countries between November 2013 and April 2014 alone. The EU has an important role to play in tackling this traffic, as Europe is currently a destination market and a hub for trafficking in transit to other regions. It is also a region from which certain species are sourced for illegal trade. In recent years, Member States have reported, in particular, seizures of ivory and rhino horns in transit and illegal imports of live reptiles and exotic birds, while several tonnes of highly endangered eels from the EU have been illegally sold to Asia. … with major implications for the rule of law, crime and security Wildlife trafficking has a devastating impact on biodiversity, threatening to eradicate some species. Moreover, it both creates incentives for corrupt practices and is enabled by them, thereby undermining the rule of law. Notably in some regions in Africa, it has a very negative impact on the potential for economic development. Wildlife trafficking is very attractive to criminals, as it is highly lucrative and, in most countries, a low enforcement priority by comparison with other forms of trafficking, so the risk of detection and penalties is very limited. Links with money laundering and other forms of organised crime, such as trafficking in drugs and firearms, have been regularly reported. The UN Security Council has acknowledged that wildlife trafficking in Central Africa is fuelling conflicts and threatening regional and national security by providing a source of funding to militia groups. A higher international profile… Attention to wildlife trafficking at the international political level has grown in recent years, given the surge in its scale and impact. The UN General Assembly adopted the first resolution on this specific subject, which was co-sponsored by all EU Member States, in July 2015. The issue was also specifically addressed at other recent important international events, such as a high-level conference held in Kasane, Botswana in March 2015, and the G7 Summit in June 2015. As a result, joint commitments were made by the international community, including the EU and its Member States, to step up anti-trafficking action. Numerous measures to combat wildlife trafficking have been adopted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a key international treaty regulating the international trade in wildlife, to which the EU became a party in 2015. The United States have set up a Presidential Task Force and adopted a national strategy against wildlife trafficking. Key market countries such as China are showing increased engagement, notably through stronger enforcement efforts, and the will to cooperate more closely with the EU on these issues. The African Union has started implementing a continent-wide strategy. …which needs to be translated into action on the ground The EU has already shown leadership in tackling the illegal trade in natural resources by adopting ambitious policies on timber and fishery products. This EU Action Plan demonstrates that the EU is ready to live up to international expectations and commitments, and that it is raising the level of its ambition as regards action against the illegal trade in wildlife. This will also help to ensure that the significant investments made over the last decades through EU development support for wildlife conservation worldwide will not be undermined through criminal activities. The Action Plan is a major contribution towards the Sustainable Development Goals set under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development agreed by heads of state at a UN summit in September 2015. Goal 15, which relates to biodiversity, sets the target of "tak[ing] urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna, and address[ing] both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products". The European Parliament called for an Action Plan in a resolution adopted in January 2014. An EU Action Plan has also been supported by many EU Member States, international organisations, NGOs, and concerned businesses at a stakeholder consultation on the EU approach against wildlife trafficking, launched by the European Commission in February 2014. The EU and its Member States need to address the problem together. EU-wide rules regulating the trade in wildlife have been in place in all Member States since 1983, implementing CITES, and the Commission issued a recommendation on enforcement in 2007.

However, reports reveal significant differences in how the Member States implement and enforce these shared rules. This represents a major risk; criminals can easily exploit this state of affairs by diverting trade routes accordingly, as a number of cases in recent years have shown. It has also emerged, in various reports and during the stakeholder consultation, that lack of awareness and political engagement are also major obstacles to combating wildlife trafficking effectively. A joint commitment by the EU and its Member States, in the form of an Action Plan, to taking a series of measures, implementing shared international commitments and acknowledging at a political level the importance of tackling the problem, represents a way to ensure more even EU-wide enforcement. It will help boost the EU's credibility worldwide when it demands that its global partners take stronger action against wildlife trafficking. In implementing this Action Plan, it will be essential to work together closely with stakeholders, including civil society organisations and relevant business sectors, on many specific measures to make maximum use of the available expertise and knowledge and ensure maximum impact. 2. The components of the Action Plan The EU Action Plan comprises a series of measures to be taken by EU institutions and/or Member States. These are set out in the Annex to this communication. Clearly, sufficient finance and human resources will be needed to support these measures. This Action Plan provides the impetus and framework for making better use of existing EU resources. The measures are essentially designed to improve cooperation between all the players concerned, make more effective use of existing tools and policies, and strengthen synergies between them, so that wildlife trafficking can be better tackled across the EU and globally. The measures, which are designed to address a complex problem holistically by involving all relevant organisations, are based on three priorities:

(1) preventing wildlife trafficking and addressing its root causes,

(2) implementing and enforcing existing rules and combating organised wildlife crime more effectively, and

(3) strengthening the global partnership of source, consumer and transit countries against wildlife trafficking. The objectives and related actions under each priority are detailed in the table in the Annex. Priority 1: Preventing wildlife trafficking and addressing its root causes Efforts will be made to reduce the demand for and the supply of illegal wildlife products, both within the EU and globally, by using the available multilateral (CITES) and EU-specific tools, supporting specific campaigns and further limiting ivory trade within and from the EU (Objective 1.1 – see the table in the Annex). One important way to tackle the root causes of wildlife trafficking is to ensure that rural communities in source countries are more engaged in wildlife conservation, and that they benefit more from it (Objective 1.2). Engaging more actively with relevant business sectors, ranging from those active in wildlife trade or using wildlife products to those that provide services to the trade, is another focus area. This reflects EU commitment to the responsible management of global supply chains (Objective 1.3). Finally, multilateral and bilateral measures will be taken to tackle corruption, a crucial enabling factor for wildlife trafficking throughout the enforcement chain (Objective 1.4). Priority 2: Implementing and enforcing existing rules and combating organised wildlife crime more effectively Although existing international and EU rules on the wildlife trade are appropriate overall, numerous studies and reports reveal significant difficulties with implementing and enforcing them. This is particularly true of the relatively new phenomenon of organised wildlife crime. A review of shortcomings in implementation is to be conducted for all Member States, and strategies for tackling them are to be developed, to ensure that existing rules are enforced more consistently across the EU (Objective 2.1). Setting enforcement priorities jointly and having Europol and Eurojust provide dedicated support for cross-border cases will help make checks and enforcement more strategic in nature. In line with the EU Agenda on Security, a review will be started in 2016 to assess whether the current EU legislative framework for tackling environmental crime, particularly organised wildlife crime, is fit for purpose. The purpose of Objective 2.2 is to boost the capacity of all links in the enforcement chain and the judiciary to take effective action against wildlife trafficking in the EU. This requires national action to improve inter-agency cooperation and coordination, communication and data flow by sharing best practice at EU level. The knowledge base on wildlife trafficking cases needs to be improved, and training is essential. Fighting organised crime more effectively (Objective 2.3) in the area of wildlife trafficking requires targeted awareness-raising amongst specialists on organised crime, cybercrime and money laundering. In addition, all Member States must implement the international commitments they have made, to ensure that their laws on organised crime cover wildlife trafficking and that appropriate penalties can be imposed for trafficking. Finally, international cooperation on enforcement is to be improved (Objective 2.4) through participation in international law enforcement operations, technical assistance and targeted financial support. Priority 3: Strengthening the global partnership of source, consumer and transit countries against wildlife trafficking Various measures will be taken to step up funding to support developing countries in their efforts to combat wildlife trafficking, make support more effective and use it more strategically. This will be done through comprehensive needs assessments and by coordinating support more effectively with other donors (Objective 3.1). To strengthen the global partnership against wildlife trafficking, the diplomatic tools of the EU and its Member States and other tools, notably EU trade policy, must be used more effectively in relations with key source, transit and consumer countries and relevant regional organisations (Objective 3.2). Better tools must be developed to tackle the links between wildlife trafficking and security that exist in some regions (Objective 3.3). Finally, the existing multilateral processes, in international agreements and fora, must be used to keep the issue on the global agenda, maintain political commitment and monitor the implementation of commitments. The next CITES Conference of the Parties in September 2016 will be particularly important for this purpose (Objective 3.4). 3. Monitoring and evaluation