1. EU Trade Policy and the Wildlife Trade
Professor Rosaleen Duffy
University of Sheffield

2. Volume of trade in EU
EUR 641 million value of CITES-listed animals and animal products (excluding caviar extract) in 2014
EUR 1.1 billion estimated value of animal exports (excluding caviar extract)
EUR 261 million import value of CITES listed plants
EUR 91 million export value of CITES listed plants

3. Distribution of seizure records reported by EU Member States 2015 (Source: data compiled by TRAFFIC ).

4. Major trade routes of illegal wildlife trade in Europe (Source: Sina, S. et al 2016, 62)

5. EU has a leadership role which can be further developed
EU and CITES
EU has a leadership role which can be further developed
EUWTR, Habitats Directive, Birds Directive and Environmental Crime Directive
Provisions go beyond what is required by CITES
EU joined CITES as a member 2015, attended CoP 17 as a member for the first time in 2016.
All 20 EU proposals at CITES 2016 were accepted

6. Trade policy
Trade instruments can be used to support a legal or sustainable trade, as well as tackling an illegal or unsustainable trade
Trade instruments are not enough on their own
Need to be in conjunction with addressing the wide range of reasons why wildlife is traded illegally, including:
reducing poverty and inequality in source countries
reducing demand reduction in consumer countries
tackling corruption, organised crime, poor enforcement and low penalties.

7. Legal Wildlife Trade
Important source of income and livelihoods for many of the poorest communities in the world
EU Action Plan Against Wildlife Trafficking ( ): identified the need to engage with rural communities and address the root causes of the illegal wildlife trade

8. Global Value Chains
In conservation it is important to maximise value to producers, which goes against growth of GVCs
South East Asian python skin - a hunted snake sold for slaughter for US$ 30 represents around 0.5% of the final value of a high-end python skin handbag (Kasterine, A. et al. 2015, 26)
The EU could offer support for capacity building to assist local communities to derive more potential income from processing skins and hides

9. EU-FTAs and GSP+
EU-Vietnam FTA: only FTA to include criteria specifically related to the wildlife trade
Negotiations for future FTAs should include wildlife trade and anti-corruption criteria
GSP+ agreements often with partner countries that are producers of wildlife products – much more scope to include wildlife trade criteria in the agreements

10. TTP and TTIP TTP includes wildlife trade criteria
TTIP negotiations can include wildlife trade criteria
Transparency and anti-corruption chapters can also be used to support the efforts of signatories to enforce wildlife trade regulations
Opening of trade routes needs to address the issue of how to deal with the legal and illegal wildlife trades from the very beginning

11. The Transport Sector
Transport sector is key: growth of containerisation makes detection and enforcement a challenge
Declaration of the United for Wildlife International Taskforce on the Transportation of Illegal Wildlife Products.
USAID committed five years of funding for the ROUTES (Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species) Partnership, led by TRAFFIC

12. Customs Union/Schengen Area
Movement of goods throughout the Customs union presents additional enforcement challenges
Reduced opportunities to intercept and inspect shipments of wildlife products
Example of caviar – once with the EU it is easier to mix legally and illegally produced caviar
Need for strong internal cooperation and data sharing within EU

13. Expansion of e-commerce is both an opportunity and a challenge
E- commerce via internet and social media is a positive way of supporting direct and legal sales from producer to consumer
Eg: TRAFFIC has worked co-operatively with WeChat and Ali Baba to curb illegal sales.
E-commerce also increasingly used for illegal wildlife trading as there is a low risk of detection

14. Data sharing Data sharing vitally important
EU Trade in Wildlife Information eXchange (EU-TWIX) database funded by EC and run by TRAFFIC (Brussels office)
The key challenge is to make better use of data sharing platforms, rather than to create new mechanisms

15. Demand Reduction
Demand reduction is central to any strategy to end illegal wildlife trading
Needs a ‘whole society approach’
Accept that it may take several years to show any results
It can work: e.g. collapse in ivory demand in Europe and North America in 1989

16. Recommendations I
The EU should focus on implementing and enforcing existing commitments to tackling the illegal wildlife trade, rather than developing new legislative frameworks.
Efforts should be directed at ensuring data sharing platforms, such as EU-TWIX, are used more effectively
The current and future negotiations for FTAs should include provisions linked to legal and illegal wildlife trade, where appropriate.

17. Recommendations II
Enforcement of regulations to curb the illegal wildlife trade should be made a more explicit criterion of GSP+ agreements.
The EU should include explicit criteria related to tacking the illegal wildlife trade and facilitating a legal and sustainable trade in current and future TTIP negotiations.
The EU should deliver support through training and capacity building for producer associations, cooperatives and social enterprises to allow local communities to develop and capture more of the ‘added value’ of wildlife products.

18. Recommendations III
Aid blending can be used to enhance private sector co-operation and involvement.
The Aid for Trade programme should be used to assist in designing and strengthening natural resource management and the outcomes for biodiversity and marginalised or poorer communities.
The EU should support the development of e-commerce to support sustainable legal wildlife trade via direct selling from producers to consumer; the EU should also co-operate with social media organisations to curb the illegal wildlife trade.

19. Recommendations IV
The EU should develop guidelines for private sector actors actively involved in the legal wildlife trade - these include transport, shipping and mailing companies.
The EU should develop greater powers to inspect private mailing centres to discourage their use by illegal wildlife traders.
The EU should engage in and support demand reduction initiatives as the most effective solution to illegal trading of endangered species.