Croatia hosts regional CITES workshop
Donja Stubica, Croatia, 21st May 2009—53 participants from 6 countries in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia) took part in their first ever regional CITES workshop this May.
They included officers from a variety of CITES enforcement authorities, such as Management Authorities, Scientific Authorities, Customs, police, and environmental phytosanitary and veterinary inspectorates, who discussed important issues relating to wildlife trade in the region. They were joined by colleagues from the UK Border Agency and the Management Authority of Slovenia.
The meeting concluded that better co-ordination and sharing of information between countries would strengthen regional enforcement of CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), especially through increased use of the EU-TWIX (EU Trade in Wildlife Information eXchange) e-mail list server.
Issues covered during the meeting included the illegal trade in caviar and tortoises, and the illegal hunting of small songbirds to supply Italian restaurants.
The workshop was organized as part of a Strengthening capacities of European law enforcement officers and judicial authorities in the fight against wildlife crime project and was financed by the European Commission, DG Justice, Freedom and Security.
