Transaction Search Form: please type in any of the fields below.
Date: April 19, 2024 Fri
Time: 1:54 pm
Time: 1:54 pm
Results for asia
5 results foundAuthor: Martin, Esmond Title: The ivory markets of East Asia Summary: This monograph reports on a survey of the ivory trade in four East Asian nations and one Special Administrative Region: China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong. The purpose of the survey was to establish a set of baseline indicators on aspects of the trade in the selected countries. From this, conservationists will be able to monitor and evaluate future changes, in accordance with CITES Resolution Conf 10.10 (Rev.). The target users are national government officers, nongovernment organizations (NGOs) involved in wildlife conservation, and CITES officials. The information in this report can be used to assess the effectiveness of policies, laws and enforcement activities related to ivory trading nationally and internationally. The data can also be used to infer the demand for illegal ivory, which is correlated with elephant poaching. Two investigators working independently between March and May and in December 2002 carried out the surveys. Martin visited Japan and Hong Kong while Stiles covered China, South Korea and Taiwan. The main findings were: - Over 54,000 ivory items were seen in 413 retail outlets in the 11 cities visited. - Hong Kong had by far the most (35,884), followed by China (9,096 in three cities) and then Japan (7,565 in two cities). Taiwan (1,849 in four cities) and South Korea (36 in Seoul) had small quantities of ivory items. - Japan has the most active legal ivory carving industry in East Asia. Most ivory is used to make name seals (~80%), followed by musical instrument parts (10%). - Almost all Japan's worked ivory production is bought locally and stays in Japan. - The most expensive raw and worked ivory is in Japan. Beijing, China, has intermediately expensive worked ivory, while Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwanese cities have roughly comparable, lower prices of worked ivory. - China has emerged as the main ivory manufacturing centre for all Asia, surpassing Hong Kong and Japan. Often with the involvement of Hong Kong businessmen, smuggling rings import African ivory, process it, and re-export it through Hong Kong and Macau to Europe, Japan, North America, Singapore and Thailand (the order of importance is unknown). China is probably also the only country in East Asia that has more worked ivory retail outlets now than in 1990. - China had the largest illegal ivory industry in East Asia and was the main destination of illicit African ivory in 2002. Small, private ivory workshops have replaced the larger, governmentowned factories since 1990. These arc unlicensed to deal with ivory and are therefore illegal. Most are located in Guangdong Province. They often use mammoth ivory, bone and stone as cover for elephant ivory working and exports. - Foreigners buy most of China's ivory items. They purchase it either in China or in neighbouring countries. Chinese nationals have been increasing their share of ivory purchases since 1990 as the economy grows. - Both Taiwan and South Korea were primarily transit and/or processing and re-export centres for ivory in the 1 980s and 1 990s. Today the ivory industry of Taiwan is dying and it is already dead in South Korea because of lower global demand for ivory products and increased government law enforcement. - The main buyers of East Asian worked ivory are ethnic Chinese of various nationalities and Japanese. Europeans and Americans also continue to buy worked ivory in Asia. - The internal ivory markets of all the countries surveyed have declined considerably since the CITES ivory international trade ban in 1990. The number of ivory craftsmen has plummeted in East Asia from about 2,200 in 1989 to fewer than 300 in 2002. Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have no full-time ivory carvers. - The CITES-approved raw ivory sales to Japan from southern Africa in 1999 were not seen as important by ivory dealers outside Japan. Non-Japanese traders interviewed did not think it heralded a relaxing of the international ivory trade ban. Most ivory business people in East Africa were pessimistic about the future of the industry. Taiwanese vendors of worked ivory (the only ones interviewed after the CITES 12th Conference of the Parties in 2002) were not even aware that a second one-off southern African ivory auction had been approved for 2004, subject to certain conditions. - East Asian ivory business people attribute the decline in the industry to the activities of Western conservationists and journalists, which have resulted in a significant drop in Western buyers, who previously were the principal customers. They do not see this situation as susceptible to change. - In recent years East Asian governments have begun to pay more attention to controlling the ivory trade. China and Taiwan, in particular, have introduced new laws and have increased efforts to stop illegal ivory imports and to prosecute smugglers. - More needs to be done by East Asian governments to control effectively the ivory trade and to implement recommendations made in CITES Resolution 10.10 (Rev. CoP 12) and CITES Resolution 12.39. Details: London: Save the Elephants, 2003, 112p. Source: Internet Source: Accessed April 13, 2018 at: http://www.traffic.org/publications/the-ivory-markets-of-east-asia.html?no_redirect=true Year: 2003 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.traffic.org/publications/the-ivory-markets-of-east-asia.html?no_redirect=true Shelf Number: 116671 Keywords: AsiaIllegalIllegal HuntingIllegal tradeIvoryPoachingTransnational Crime |
Author: Schloenhardt, Andreas Title: Palermo on the Pacific Rim: organised crime offences in the Asia Pacific region. Summary: This paper suggests that 'We must recognise the failure of the "organised crime laws" to win the "war on organised crime".' Offences designed to penalise criminal organisations constitute the most recent and perhaps most ambitious strategy to fight organised crime. The common feature of these offences is that they are designed to target the structure, organisation, members, and associates of organised crime groups. Their shared rationale is the view that disrupting criminal activities and arresting individual offenders does not dismantle the criminal organisations that stand behind these illegal activities. Four main types of organised crime offences are identified in this study. These include: 1. The conspiracy model, found in the Convention against Transnational Crime and in jurisdictions such as Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and several Pacific Island nations; 2. The participation model stipulated by the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, and also adopted in Canada, New Zealand, New South Wales, PR China, Macau, Taiwan, the Pacific Islands, and California; 3. The enterprise model based on the US RICO Act, which is also used in many US States, and the Philippines; 4. The labelling/registration model of Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, New South Wales, and South Australia. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific, 2009, 315p. Source: Internet Source: Accessed April 27, 2018 at: http://apo.org.au/node/18766 Year: 2009 Country: Asia URL: http://apo.org.au/node/18766 Shelf Number: 116380 Keywords: AsiaCriminal LawDrug TraffickingIllicit MarketsOrganized Crime |
Author: Shah, Naureen Title: Broken system: dysfunction, abuse, and impunity in the Indian Police. Summary: This report documents a range of human rights violations committed by police, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and extrajudicial killings. The report is based on interviews with more than 80 police officers of varying ranks, 60 victims of police abuses, and numerous discussions with experts and civil society activists. It documents the failings of state police forces that operate outside the law, lack sufficient ethical and professional standards, are overstretched and outmatched by criminal elements, and unable to cope with increasing demands and public expectations. Field research was conducted in 19 police stations in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal, Pradesh, and the capital, Delhi. Details: New York, NY: Human Rights Watch, 2009 Source: Internet Source Year: 2009 Country: India URL: Shelf Number: 116186 Keywords: AsiaPolice BehaviorPolice EthicsPolice MisconductPolice OfficersTorture |
Author: Ottitsch, Andreas Title: Impact of reduction of illegal logging in European Russia on the EU and European Russia forest sector and trade. Summary: The report examines the potential impacts of implementing trade controls, such as the licensing scheme proposed in the European Union's FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) Action Plan, aimed at preventing trade in illegally logged timber between North-Western Russia. The results are based on three linked studies: (i) An assessment of the volume of timber of unknown origin (i.e. possibly illegal logging) produced in North-West Russia; (ii) An assessment of existing controls that might prevent illegally logged material originating in the Russian Federation from entering EU-markets and; (iii) A scenario analysis on the impacts of a possible Voluntary FLEGT Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation. Details: Joensuu, Finland: European Forest Institute, 2005, 131p. Source: Internet Source Year: 2005 Country: Finland URL: Shelf Number: 115396 Keywords: AsiaEnvironmental OffensesIllegal Logging |
Author: KPMG Title: Eurasian Economic Union Illicit Cigarette Report Summary: Key findings: Illicit cigarette consumption has grown rapidly in the Eurasian Economic Union from 2015 to 2018 - Illicit cigarette consumption rose from 0.6% to 6.8% of total consumption in the past 4 years, representing over 20bn cigarettes in 2018 - Had these cigarettes been sold legally in 2018, an additional 68bn RUB would have been collected in taxes (VAT & Excise) across the Eurasian Economic Union in 2018, with 99% of the taxes lost from Russia - A large proportion of the growth occurred in the Russian Federation, where non-domestic cigarette consumption increased from 0.7% to 8.7% of consumption, of which 90% was illicit. Widening price differences between countries and free movement of goods and people are two possible drivers behind the growth in illicit cigarette consumption - The price differences (in particular between Belarus and Russia) have increased by over 40%, making cigarettes from Belarus more affordable(с) - In addition, the establishment of the EEU (in 2015) enabled free movement of goods and people, reducing customs inspections between countries and removing limits on goods imported for personal consumption - The 8 billion Belarusian labelled cigarettes identified in Russia were not supported by the number of travellers buying for their own personal consumption, indicating that a high volume of cigarettes are contraband. Furthermore the seizures of millions of Belarusian labelled cigarettes in Russia indicated that these cigarettes are transported by criminal networks. Distributors of illicit cigarettes have grown to exploit the price differences, reduced affordability and the lack of personal allowance quotas when travelling between EEU countries, especially from Belarus to Russia - Belarus is the primary source of illicit cigarettes, with almost 8 billion of the 20 billion illicit cigarettes identified in this study coming from Belarusian trademark-owned manufacturers, whilst production capacity was reported at 29 billion cigarettes(4) which is not supported by domestic consumption (estimated at 16 billion) - Belarusian labelled cigarettes were identified across Russia, indicating that they are being purchased by consumers who are not travelling across the Belarusian border - In addition, 47% of C&C identified had no identifiable origin including counterfeit, illicit whites and cigarettes with suspicious Russian tax stamps, which have had no taxes paid in any jurisdiction. Some may be illegally manufactured inside Russia - Illicit cigarette smuggling has been shown to help enable Organised Criminal Groups (OCGs), using similar networks to sell other products and its rapid growth in EEU is unlikely to be any different, as profits can be high whilst penalties remain low. Throughout the report, our analysis has focussed on the following categories of cigarette consumption: Legal domestic consumption - Cigarettes legally purchased and consumed within the country of study, based on In Market Sales data provided by the tobacco industry Non-domestic legal (ND(L)) - ND(L) represents cigarettes which are purchased in another country but legally consumed in the country of study, through cross-border or tourism purchases. This represents 0.8% of total consumption in the EEU Illicit consumption - divided into three components: - Illicit Whites: Cigarettes that are usually manufactured in one country/market but which the evidence suggests have been smuggled across borders during their transit to the destination market under review where they have limited or no legal distribution and are sold without payment of tax - Contraband (Other): Cigarettes where the tax was paid legally in one country, but the cigarettes were taken to another country and re-sold without any applicable tax, mainly when the excise tax regimes in the source country are lower than the destination country. Many of these cigarettes originated from an EEU country and whilst they were legally transported (due to no legal personal allowance limits) they were then re-sold illegally - Counterfeit: Cigarettes that deliberately copy a legally traded brand, deceiving consumers who believe that they are purchasing this brand. Counterfeit was only identified by participating trademark owners in the Empty Pack Survey - Russian suspicious tax stamps: Cigarettes where further analysis has revealed that the packs may have been sold without the payment of tax, despite bearing domestic labelling Details: London: Author, 2019. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 28, 2019 at: https://www.stopillegal.com/docs/default-source/external-docs/eea-illicit-cigarette-report-2018-english.pdf?Status=Temp&sfvrsn=ab4677d7_2 Year: 2019 Country: Europe URL: https://www.stopillegal.com/docs/default-source/external-docs/eea-illicit-cigarette-report-2018-english.pdf?Status=Temp&sfvrsn=ab4677d7_2 Shelf Number: 156923 Keywords: AsiaCigarettes ContrabandCounterfeit Cigarettes Counterfeit Goods EuropeIllicit Cigarettes Illicit Markets Illicit Trade Organized Crime Tax Evasion Tobacco |