Traded under the radar: poor documentation of trade in nationally-protected non-CITES species can cause fraudulent trade to go undetected

• Published in: Biodiversity and conservation 2019-09, Vol.28 (11), p.2797-2804
• Main Authors: Janssen, Jordi, Leupen, Boyd T. C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Biodiversity legal instruments and regulations; Biomedical and Life Sciences; CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species); Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Conservation Biology/Ecology; Data base management systems; Database industry; Detection; Documentation; Ecology; Endangered species; Enforcement; Exploitation; Fish; Fraud; Information management; Information systems; International economic relations; International trade; Law enforcement; Laws, regulations and rules; Life Sciences; Management information systems; Original Paper; Protected species; Radar; Records; Skin; Trade; Washing; Wildlife; Wildlife conservation; Wildlife management
• ISSN: 0960-3115; 1572-9710
• DOI: 10.1007/s10531-019-01796-7

Documentation of international trade in non-CITES species is generally poor. As a result, illegal trade in nationally-protected non-CITES species is often hard to detect. To show that such illicit trade nevertheless occurs, this study has analysed import and export records of the Giant Blue-tongued Skink Tiliqua gigas for the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) between 1999 and 2015. EU trade data for T. gigas was obtained from the UNEP-WCMCM CITES Trade Database. Trade data for the US was extracted from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS). We observed a sudden shift in source codes (from wild-caught to captive-bred) coinciding with legislative changes, which has been indicative of laundering practices in the past. In the US, no less than 45% of all imported T. gigas was declared as wild-caught, constituting a direct violation of Indonesia’s national laws and the US Lacey Act . The keeping of trade records is subjected to the willingness of individual countries, yet unwillingness to collect such data can severely threaten species when over-exploitation or laundering practices remain undetected. A CITES Appendix III-listing, obligating participating countries to maintain trade records, would facilitate improved detection and monitoring of illegal trade in nationally-protected species.