Quang Binh, September 16-17, 2024, and Ho Chi Minh City, September 19-20, 2024, Wildlife Conservation Society, Viet Nam Office (WCS Viet Nam) in collaboration with the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) to organize two training courses on “Countering illegal wildlife trade by sea route”.
Ms. Tran Thi Kim Thanh shared the Vietnamese legal framework on wildlife protection, Ho Chi Minh city, September 2024
The training sessions were delivered by experienced experts on customs risk management, criminal law, CITES implementation and management, and wildlife identification from the GDVC’s Risk Management Department, Ha Noi Procuratorate University, Tam Dao National Park and the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources.
The training courses brough together 52 participants who are customs officials from the Customs Departments of 22 provinces/cities that have seaports in Viet Nam, along with representatives from the Risk Management Department, and the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department of the GDVC.
The training courses were organized to enhance awareness and knowledge for national customs officials on countering illegal wildlife trade (IWT) by sea route. During the training, participants were updated on the situation of illegal wildlife trade and transportation though seaports in the world and Viet Nam, international and domestic legal regulations on wildlife protection, and sanctions for wildlife-related violations, especially for the illegal trade and transportation of wildlife by sea routes. They were also guided to identify wildlife species and products that are commonly smuggled through seaports in Viet Nam; and practiced skills to recognize false CITES documents for the export and import of wildlife products as well as detect signs of violations based on the customs’ risks management system.
Participants practiced identifying wildlife products, Quang Binh, September 2024
The training courses also created a forum for the participants and experts to discuss the role and challenges of customs in detecting and investigating wildlife crime cases as regulated by the criminal legislation and solutions to collaborate with other relevant law enforcement agencies to improve the customs control over the operations of wildlife-related freight in the seaports.
These training courses were conducted within the framework of the project “Scaling up efforts to counter wildlife trafficking in Viet Nam” funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), United States Department of State, implemented by WCS in Viet Nam.