Geneva, 10 November 2014 – The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), welcomes the APEC Joint Ministerial Statement, issued by the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers following the conclusion of the 26th APEC Ministerial Meeting on Saturday in Beijing, China.
Initiatives contained in the Joint Statement reaffirm the commitment to conserve wildlife resources and combat illicit transnational trade in protected wildlife, including timber.
Commenting on the APEC Statement, the CITES Secretary-General, Mr. John E. Scanlon said: “CITES welcomes the Statement made by Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministers of the APEC economies renewing their commitment to combating wildlife trafficking and to sharing information, intelligence, experiences and best practices in the region to fight illicit transnational wildlife trade, as well as recognizing legal trade in certain circumstances and the need to strengthen efforts to improve the livelihoods of rural communities."
Paragraphs 56 and 57 of the APEC Ministers Statements are explicitly dedicated to Forestry and Wildlife.
56. We reaffirm our commitment to promote trade in legal timber, legally harvested wood and wood products and combat illegal logging and associated trade. We instruct officials to consider proposals related to information sharing and transparency, and to take concrete actions to combat illegal logging and promote trade in legal wood products. We welcome member economies' endeavors through the Expert Group on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade (EGILAT) to promote and facilitate greater transparency and information sharing.
57. We are committed to conserving wildlife resources by strengthening our efforts to improve the livelihood of rural community, protect forest, grassland, wetland, desert and marine ecosystems, enhance environmental protection, and facilitate trade in legally harvested wildlife. We remain committed to strengthening our efforts to combat wildlife trafficking in the APEC region and reduce the supply of and demand for illegally traded wildlife. We will join hands to combat illicit transnational trade in protected wildlife by sharing information, intelligence, experiences and best practices, and strengthening international cooperation. We welcome actions being taken to build capacity to stop this illicit trade, including through cooperative activities such as the APEC Capacity Building Workshop on Reduction of Demand for Illegally Traded Wildlife held in Hanoi in October 2014.
Note to journalists:
For more information, contact Juan Carlos Vasquez at +41 22 917 8156 or [email protected].
For the full copy of the Joint Statement see:
http://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Ministerial-Statements/Annual/2014/2014_amm.aspx
See also the 22nd APEC Ecomomic Leaders’ Declaration - Beijing Agenda for an Integrated, Innovative and Interconnected Asia-Pacific (para. 39 on combating wildlife trafficking)
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