21 March 2011: During his first visit to the World Customs Organization (WCO) headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, John Scanlon, Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), addressed the 30th meeting of the WCO Enforcement Committee.

Scanlon emphasized that border control is vital for CITES to continue its success, acknowledged the work of customs authorities around the world, and highlighted the shared objectives of CITES and WCO in facilitating legal and sustainable trade while ensuring that illicit trade can be identified, intercepted and responded to appropriately.

He highlighted several aspects of the CITES-WCO working relationship, including: capacity-building, which has recently expanded through the Green Customs partnership; the collection and sharing of seizure data, particularly data relating to illegal trade in ivory; intelligence sharing; assessment of national trade controls; WCO participation in CITES Enforcement Task Forces and the CITES Enforcement Expert Group; and the development of CITES e-permitting systems. Scanlon also welcomed the support of WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya for the concept of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC).

The 30th session of the WCO Enforcement Committee is meeting from 21-25 March 2011. The Enforcement Committee’s aim is “the protection of society in the broadest sense of the term.” It initiates work and studies on enforcement, and contributes to the strategic direction of the WCO’s work in compliance, control and intelligence in areas such as security, the intelligence function, commercial fraud, mutual administrative assistance, illicit drug trafficking, money laundering, electronic crime, smuggling, environmental crime, transnational organized crime, firearms and the transborder movement of people and goods affecting health and safety. [CITES Press Release] [WCO Enforcement Committee Webpage]