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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:54 am
Time: 11:54 am
Results for illegal trade (europe)
4 results foundAuthor: Martin, Esmond Title: Ivory Markets of Europe: A Survey in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK Summary: The European Union (EU) in 1989 and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1990 prohibited commercial imports of raw and worked ivory. The EU allows the import of ivory antiques, defined as items manufactured prior to 1 June 1947, and raw and worked ivory can be exported from EU countries subject to the destination country issuing CITES certificates authorizing the import. The domestic trade in raw and worked ivory is legal, subject to strict EU and national regulations based primarily on European Council Regulation 338/97. This monograph reports on a survey of the ivory trade in five European countries chosen for their assumed large ivory markets: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy. The purpose of the survey was to establish a set of baseline indicators in the selected countries, such as the prices of raw tusks, numbers of ivory craftsmen and workshops, numbers of shops selling ivory items, and the retail prices of ivory items. The age of ivory items and the nationalities of the customers were also looked into to add qualitative information. Using these data, conservationists will be able to monitor and evaluate future changes in the ivory trade. The target users of this report are national government officers, non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in wildlife conservation, CITES officials, the media, and researchers. The information in this monograph assesses the effectiveness of policies, laws, and enforcement activities related to ivory trading, both nationally and internationally. The investigators, Martin and Stiles, carried out fieldwork in Europe in April, May, September and November 2004. This survey was sponsored by Save the Elephants and Care for the Wild International. The principal findings were: • Over 27,000 ivory items were seen for retail sale in 1,143 shops in 14 cities and towns. Germany and the UK had the largest numbers of ivory items, with 16,444 and 8,325 respectively, followed by France with 1,303, Spain with 621 and Italy with 461. • The retail ivory markets of Germany and the UK were larger in scale than expected, and exceeded those found in countries such as China, Japan, Cameroon and Nigeria, all of which are viewed as active ivory market countries. In addition, the UK alone had more outlets selling ivory than any of the entire regions previously surveyed by the investigators (Africa, South and South East Asia, East Asia), and the number of outlets in Germany was second only to Thailand. • The average number of worked ivory items per town/city in Europe was approximately one-third the number of those seen in Africa and Asia. • The great majority of worked ivory seen for sale in Europe was either manufactured prior to 1989 or was made more recently from raw ivory imported prior to 1989, making it in principle legal, though much of the worked ivory lacks proper documentation. • Small amounts of raw and worked ivory are smuggled from Africa into Europe, and it is probable that some of the fairly abundant East Asian worked ivory seen is also imported illegally. • Official seizures of ivory have decreased sharply from the early 1990s for France and the UK, but they have remained stable in Germany and Spain. Data for Italy are lacking. • There are few controls on the sale of worked ivory. Ivory items are commonly sold as antiques or as legal, recently-made pieces with only occasional verification by the authorities. • Germany and France were the only countries with raw ivory stockpiles. These are held mainly by craftsmen and museums, and the ivory is registered with the governments. Additional unregistered ivory is held by individuals as a legacy of the colonial period. The total raw ivory stockpile is not known for either country. • Raw tusks sold wholesale in Germany and France for USD 92/kg and USD 108/kg respectively for 5-10 kg tusks, and for USD 244/kg and USD 132/kg respectively for 15-20 kg tusks. These prices are lower than for comparable tusks in most of Asia. • In France, the only country with past and present wholesale price data, the price of tusks decreased significantly from 1989 to 2004, strongly suggesting that demand for tusks declined over this time. In the UK, the 1988 wholesale price for 5-10 kg tusks was in inflation-adjusted terms the same as the retail price in 2004, also suggesting a decline in value of wholesale raw ivory, thus a drop in demand. • France and Germany were the only countries with active ivory craftsmen. France had 46 to 51 artisans (not counting antique restorers) using ivory, and Germany had 8 to 10 ivory carvers. • In France the number of ivory craftsmen more than halved from 1974 to 2004, while the number in Germany decreased by over three-quarters from 1981 to 2004. Italy had a small number of ivory craftsmen prior to 1989, but there are none nowadays. The UK and Spain have no legal ivory craftsmen working today. • Germany consumes more than 300 kg and France 350-400 kg of raw ivory a year. The UK, Spain and Italy use virtually no raw ivory. This signals a vast decline from the several tonnes a year used in the 1970s and 1980s. • In France most ivory is used to make figurines, knife handles and jewellery; in Germany, figurines and jewellery predominate. • Presently, controls on the domestic ivory carving business, especially on stocks of tusks, satisfy CITES’ requirements in Germany and France. • The main buyers of retail ivory items in the countries surveyed were nationals of those countries, except in the UK where Americans were the most numerous and Britons were second. The second most numerous customers in each country, other than the UK, were Americans. East Asians also purchased worked ivory in Europe in small quantities. • The main elephant ivory substitute in shops in Germany and France was mammoth ivory, which was mostly imported from Russia. The carvers in Germany were the only craftsmen to work mammoth ivory, and paid middlemen USD 122-427/kg for it. In France, worked mammoth ivory was imported from China. Mammoth ivory items were rare or absent in the UK, Spain and Italy. In the European Latin countries semi-precious stones, plastic, resins and plaster were common ivory substitutes. • Vendors in Europe did not believe that the 1999 CITES ivory auctions in southern Africa for Japanese buyers had any influence on ivory market activity. Nor did they believe that the CITES approval in 2002 for a future such sale would have any market effect. • The ivory artisans and sellers in Germany believed that the demand for new ivory items will continue to decline and that there is no long-term future for ivory carving. Those in France thought that the craft could continue into the foreseeable future at a low scale, and they were actively promoting it. Vendors in the UK, Spain and Italy thought that the antique ivory market would continue, but that there was no future for new ivory. • European ivory dealers believed that the bans in their countries of imports of raw ivory would not be lifted in the near future. Details: Kingsfold, UK: Care for the Wild International; London: Save the Elephants, 2005. 106p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 9, 2011 at: http://www.savetheelephants.org/files/pdf/publications/2005%20Martin%20&%20Stiles%20Ivory%20Markets%20of%20Europe.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Europe URL: http://www.savetheelephants.org/files/pdf/publications/2005%20Martin%20&%20Stiles%20Ivory%20Markets%20of%20Europe.pdf Shelf Number: 121689 Keywords: Illegal Trade (Europe)IvorySmugglingWildlife Crime |
Author: Keese-Nagy, Katalin Title: Trade in Sturgeon Caviar in Bulgaria and Romania: Overview of Reported Trade in Caviar, 1998-2008 Summary: The aim of this briefing is to provide an overview of legal trade patterns of caviar of Acipenseriformes from Bulgaria and Romania (hereafter referred to as the ‘two target countries’) for the period 1998 to 2008 and to gather information of detected cases of illegal trade in sturgeon caviar where these two countries were implicated. In response to reported declines in sturgeon populations and with the aim of ensuring that trade in sturgeon products, such as caviar, is sustainable and not threatening the species’ survival, all species of sturgeon and paddlefish have been listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since April 1998. Accordingly, in April 1998, the order was also listed in Annex B of the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations (EU Regulations) implementing CITES in the European Union (EU). The Annex B/Appendix II listing regulates trade in all parts and derivatives, including caviar, meat, etc. Fishing and export of sturgeon and sturgeon products of wild origin was banned in Romania in 2006 for 10 years. In an overview of global caviar trade for the period 1998 to 2006, TRAFFIC reported that legal international trade amounted to 1313 t; with Romania ranking as the world’s fifth largest caviar exporter, exporting 26 tonnes (t) over the period, after Iran (438 t), the Russian Federation (138 t), Kazakhstan (95 t), Azerbaijan (35 t) and China (29 t) (TRAFFIC, 2009). The EU was reported to be the world’s largest importer of caviar for the period 1998-2006, importing 619 t, followed by the USA (292 t), Switzerland (149 t) and Japan (132 t) (TRAFFIC, 2009). During the same period, the volumes of caviar reported in international trade per year plummeted from a peak at 263 tonnes (t) in 1999 to 44 t in 2006. Regarding illegal trade in caviar, it is difficult to quantify its levels, as this is by nature a hidden activity. However, large seizures of illegal caviar in Europe indicate that there is a thriving black market in the luxury roe. They also demonstrate that caviar smugglers are well-organized and use sophisticated methods and the illegal caviar trade is considered to have strong links with organized crime groups. According to data reported to EU-TWIX, over 7 t of illegal caviar were seized by European authorities from 2000 to 2007 (TRAFFIC, 2009). However, the real size of the illegal trade is likely to be considerably higher, given that much of it is undetected and information is incomplete for some importing countries. Details: Budapest, Hungary: TRAFFIC Europe, 2011. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 26, 2011 at: http://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/pdf_neu/Trade%20in%20Sturgeon%20Caviar%20in%20Bulgaria%20and%20Romania.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Europe URL: http://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/pdf_neu/Trade%20in%20Sturgeon%20Caviar%20in%20Bulgaria%20and%20Romania.pdf Shelf Number: 123401 Keywords: CaviarIllegal FishingIllegal Trade (Europe)Organized CrimeWildlife Crime |
Author: Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Title: Illegal Trade in Environmentally Sensitive Goods Summary: Illegal trade in environmentally sensitive goods, such as threatened wildlife, timber, hazardous waste, and ozone-depleting substances, has been a long-standing issue in the international trade and environment agenda. The nature of such illegal trade makes it difficult to fully understand its extent and impact on the environment. Developing effective policies to reduce illegal trade requires a clear understanding of what drives this trade and the circumstances under which it thrives. In this report, evidence-based on customs data and information from licensing schemes is used to document the scale of illegal trade, as well as the economic and environmental impacts of such trade. National and international policies have an important role to play in regulating and reducing illegal trade and the report highlights a range of measures that can be taken at both levels. Details: Paris: OECD Publishing, 2012. 147p. Source: Internet Resource: OECD Trade Policy Studies, 2012. Accessed October 4, 2012 at: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/fulltext/9712051e.pdf?expires=1349355092&id=id&accname=oid006203&checksum=68038CFB2A32D76B27CB3A01C5E7955F Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/fulltext/9712051e.pdf?expires=1349355092&id=id&accname=oid006203&checksum=68038CFB2A32D76B27CB3A01C5E7955F Shelf Number: 126554 Keywords: Hazardous WasteIllegal LoggingIllegal Trade (Europe)Offenses Against the EnvironmentWildlife Crime |
Author: Lallerstedt, Karl Title: Illicit Trade Flows: How to deal with the neglected economic and security threat Summary: Illicit trade flows generate massive costs for the EU, yet the countermeasures have been inadequate. A shortage of data, the tendency to look at different forms of illicit trade as separate phenomena, and the complexity of the problem have led to an under-prioritisation of illicit trade among policymakers. Globally, the illicit trade in products that replace those that are generally licit (such as counterfeit goods and contraband excise goods) represents the biggest monetary turnover and hurts government and corporate revenues directly. Still, it is particularly under-prioritised. Synergistic effects for smuggling different items relate to the fact that there are over one thousand international poly-crime groups operating in the EU, the same smuggling routes can be used for different commodities, and the same corrupt officials or purveyors of false documentation can deliver their services to multiple "operators". Illicit trade also makes the EU more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. It finances terrorist organisations, and well-established smuggling routes make the borders more porous. To address the problem, better data need to be generated showing its extent and impact. Taking a holistic view of the various aspects of illicit trade is important to facilitate coordination among the relevant authorities. The costs of this work represent investments which - beyond enhancing security - will generate income by boosting tax revenues, reducing crime, creating jobs and driving economic growth. Details: Helsinki: Finnish Institute of International Affairs, 2014. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: FIIA Briefing Paper 151: Accessed August 11, 2014 at: http://www.fiia.fi/en/publication/405/illicit_trade_flows/ Year: 2014 Country: Europe URL: http://www.fiia.fi/en/publication/405/illicit_trade_flows/ Shelf Number: 132970 Keywords: Economic CrimeIllegal Trade (Europe)Illicit TradeSmuggling |