18.88 - 18.93 Wildlife crime enforcement support in West and Central Africa

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18.88
Decision directed to:
Parties
Parties of West and Central Africa should:
a) draw upon the information and recommendations provided in the West and Central Africa Threat Assessment Report available as Annex 4 to document CoP18 Doc. 34 and the recommendations in Annex 2 of document CoP18 Doc. 34, to strengthen CITES implementation and address wildlife crime; and
b) identify priority actions that could benefit from support and present these to the International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), donors and the development community, in order to seek support to implement them.
18.89
Decision directed to:
Parties

Parties in West and Central Africa identified as affected by illegal trade in wildlife within the region should engage in regional and bilateral activities to share information on their national legislative and regulatory measures to address such illegal trade, exchange experiences and best practices, and identify opportunities for regional and cross-border cooperation and joint actions, including where appropriate the formulation of national or regional action plans as anticipated by paragraph 14 a) ii) and 10 f) of Resolution Conf. 11.3 (Rev. CoP18) on Compliance and enforcement, taking into consideration the provisions of paragraph 15 q) of the same Resolution.

18.90
Decision directed to:
Parties
Parties importing CITES specimens from West and Central Africa are encouraged to assist their counterparts in West and Central Africa, by implementing measures that will address wildlife crime and support legal trade that is limited to sustainable levels, in particular by:
a) supporting efforts to determine and ensure sustainable levels of trade through scientific studies that can facilitate the making of robust non-detriment findings;
b) closely scrutinizing consignments of CITES-listed species imported from West and Central Africa and accompanying CITES documents to ensure that illegal species are not laundered into legal trade; and
c) as a priority, raise any concerns about imports with the exporting State, or with the Animals Committee, Plants Committee, Standing Committee, or the Secretariat.
18.91
Decision directed to:
Parties, Others
Parties, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations are encouraged to provide financial and technical assistance to Parties in West and Central Africa and mobilize resources to address the matters identified in the West and Central Africa Threat Assessment Report available as Annex 4 to document CoP18 Doc. 34; the recommendations in Annex 2 to document CoP18 Doc. 34, the guidelines in information documents SC70 Inf. 2 and SC70 Inf. 3; and any further recommendations made by the Standing Committee.
18.92
Decision directed to:
Standing Committee
The Standing Committee shall:

a) consider the report from the Secretariat in accordance with Decision 18.93, paragraph d) and progress made by Parties in West and Central Africa in strengthening CITES implementation and make further recommendations as appropriate; and

b) consider any report from the Plants Committee, in response to the recommendation agreed at its 70th meeting, concerning the inclusion of Pterocarpus erinaceus from all range States in the Review of Significant Trade and make recommendations as required.
18.93
Decision directed to:
Secretariat
The Secretariat shall:
a) draw to the attention of relevant United Nations agencies, the African Union, the Commission of Central African Forests, the Global Environmental Facility, and development agencies, the West and Central Africa Threat Assessment Report available as Annex 4 to document CoP18 Doc. 34 and the recommendations in Annex 2 to document CoP18 Doc. 34, and the guidelines in information documents SC70 Inf. 2 and SC70 Inf. 3; and encourage these to be taken into consideration in the development of work programmes or activities initiated by these entities in the two subregions;
b) subject to external funding, work with its partners in the International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) to support Parties in West and Central Africa in addressing illegal trade in wildlife, including addressing the matters identified in the West and Central Africa Threat Assessment Report available as Annex 4 to document CoP18 Doc. 34; the recommendations in Annex 2 to document CoP18 Doc. 34, the guidelines in information documents SC70 Inf. 2 and SC70 Inf. 3; and any further recommendations made by the Standing Committee;
c) subject to the availability of external funds and upon request from Parties, undertake general and targeted capacity-building activities to strengthen the effective
implementation of CITES in the two subregions, taking into consideration the contents of information documents SC70 Inf. 2 and SC70 Inf. 3;
d) report, as appropriate, to the Standing Committee on the results of the activities conducted in accordance with Decision 18.93 paragraphs a) to c); and
e) the Secretariat shall give priority to the guidelines agreed by West African parties as contained in information documents SC70 Inf. 2 and SC70 Inf. 3 in the course of the implementation of its capacity-building work.