Kimberly Spykerman Channel NewsAsia 19 Apr 14;
SINGAPORE: While the sale of ivory in Singapore has fallen over the years, the country remains a significant transit point for shipments of illegal ivory moving from Africa to Asia, and even within Asia itself, animal welfare activists said.
Some of the illegal ivory shipments passing through Singapore have been declared as coffee berries, marble sculptures, and even waste paper.
Authorities worked on tip-offs to intercept these shipments. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said there have been eight illegal ivory seizures since 2008.
While some of the ivory was seized from travellers at ports of entry and from local shops, most were en route to other destinations.
Three of these seizures -- involving 244 pieces of ivory -- took place in the first three months of this year.
Activists said this could be the tip of the iceberg.
Elaine Tan, chief executive officer for World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Singapore, said: "There's a lot of this illegal ivory trade going on in Asia, and Singapore being in a very strategic position in Asia-Pacific, a lot of this illegal ivory flows through our ports.
“We are a major transit point. We have a very efficient and effective port. Consignments, shipments pass through very quickly and in some ways, I think this is a loophole being exploited by illegal traders."
AVA works with global organisations such as Interpol and the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network to fight illegal wildlife trade, for example, by trading information to track down shipments and wildlife smugglers.
Some animal activists said more could be done to detect illegal wildlife shipments coming into and through Singapore, suggesting that sniffer dogs specifically trained to detect illegal wildlife products could be introduced at Singapore's border checkpoints.
This is already being done in countries like India, Thailand, and South Korea.
Louis Ng, executive director for ACRES, said: "We now need to be more proactive in terms of our enforcement work, in terms of securing the border checkpoints to ensure that we are an active deterrence to wildlife crime. If we can take Singapore off the map as a transit point, then it would be a significant dent to the wildlife trade."
AVA said there are many ways to detect illegal imports, and it works with local enforcement agencies to determine the most cost-effective ways to prevent the illegal import of controlled items.
In Singapore, it also springs surprise checks on places like traditional Chinese medicine halls for illegal wildlife products, which includes ivory.
In 2013, WWF Singapore noted fewer shops here selling ivory compared to a decade ago, with the variety of ivory products available also dropping significantly.
Domestic trade of elephant ivory is permitted in Singapore if traders can prove the products were acquired before 1990, which was when elephants became listed as a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
WWF Singapore said that according to the survey it conducted with TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, vendors here said they were selling old stocks of ivory products that had been imported into Singapore 20 to 30 years ago.
AVA said it inspects and monitors traders who have pre-Convention stocks of elephant ivory to verify their stock records.
- CNA/gn
