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Vanishing Species: International Experts Find Fault with CITES 'Documents'
Kristine Aghalaryan
10:18, March 9, 2015
Wild animals imported to Armenia are not only circumventing monitoring
by the customs inspectorate but also that of the veterinary
inspectorate.
Staffers of the Veterinary Inspectorate, under the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Agriculture's Food Safety Service, must first register and
examine such animals before being admitted to Armenia, Only when
they are certified as free from disease are they allowed in.
This is how the law is supposed to work. The reality on the ground is
another matter.
Hovhannes Lazarian, who heads the Veterinary Inspectorate, assured
Hetq that such animals are quarantined for another month under
constant supervision by inspectorate staffers.
Hetq has written quite extensively regarding the import to and export
from Armenia of endangered animal species registered in International
Red Book. In particular, we have written about the case of 4 pygmy
chimpanzees (bonobo), 7 common chimpanzees, 4 Diana monkeys,
mandrills, and mangabeys imported to Armenia.
These animals, it turns out, circumvented any veterinary monitoring
before entering Armenia.
Hetq wrote to the Veterinary Inspectorate, asking that it provide
health documents regarding the bonobos (Pan paniscus) and common
chimps (Pan troglodutes) imported to Armenia between 2010 and 2014.
In response, the inspectorate wrote that no such animals were imported
to Armenia in the past three years.
Leaving aside the fact that the individual who has imported such
animals is making a profit from them, such official negligence opens
the door for a variety of contagious viruses to enter the country.
Vivek Menon, the South Asia Regional Director of the International
Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), says that numerous diseases are
transmitted as a result of the illegal trade of wild animals and
birds. He says that when passengers arrive, you can check them. But
you can't in the case of illegal shipment. That cargo can also bring
in diseases. Essentially, monitoring of the sector is impossible. Even
the CITES periodically says that the health of wild animals is an
important factor on which governments must work, and that governments
must focus on the trade in wild animals.
In addition to the fact that Armenia's State Revenue Committee has no
stats regarding the importation of a pygmy chimp on display at Jambo
Exotic Park, and that a case of smuggling is now underway, scores of
primates and monkeys are being imported with invalid documents.
We had Charles Mackay and Elsayed Mohamed, international experst for
the CITES, examine one such document. They found at least three
errors, of which even one makes the document invalid.
The following are lacking in the document:
Exportation, importation or re-exportation permission
The document was dated as signed after the expiration date
The document's stamp security numbers are not the same.
Charles Mackay has been working for the United Kingdom's Revenue and
Customs for the past 36 years and has served as a CITES expert for the
past twenty. When Hetq asked Mr. Mackay how he would react to such a
document in the case of the United Kingdom, he said, "Seeing all this,
we would immediately raise the alarm and respond by sending inquiries
to the exporter country. This is an unacceptable and invalid
document."
Examining the legal permits of Armenia's Ministry of Nature
Protection, the state agency tasked with coordinating implementation
of CITES provisions in the country, we also came across a number of
impermissible errors. (Hetq obtained these documents after a one year
Freedom of Information court case).
According to the experts, the document must show the details of the
importer and exporter. In the document below, the same person, Armen
Khachatryan, appears as both importer and exporter. This, in their
estimation, is unacceptable.
Despite the fact that Armenia signed the CITES (the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in
2009, it doesn't know where such endangered animals are disappearing
to once having reached its shores.
Hetq spoke to the three experts, who had come to Armenia as part of a
five day training course organized by the Foundation for the
Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) regarding the
prevention of the illegal trade of wildlife. The training was funded
by Armenia's Ministry of Nature Protection and the International Fund
for Animal Welfare.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/58899/vanishing-species-international-experts-find-fault-with-cites-documents.html
From: A. Papazian
Kristine Aghalaryan
10:18, March 9, 2015
Wild animals imported to Armenia are not only circumventing monitoring
by the customs inspectorate but also that of the veterinary
inspectorate.
Staffers of the Veterinary Inspectorate, under the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Agriculture's Food Safety Service, must first register and
examine such animals before being admitted to Armenia, Only when
they are certified as free from disease are they allowed in.
This is how the law is supposed to work. The reality on the ground is
another matter.
Hovhannes Lazarian, who heads the Veterinary Inspectorate, assured
Hetq that such animals are quarantined for another month under
constant supervision by inspectorate staffers.
Hetq has written quite extensively regarding the import to and export
from Armenia of endangered animal species registered in International
Red Book. In particular, we have written about the case of 4 pygmy
chimpanzees (bonobo), 7 common chimpanzees, 4 Diana monkeys,
mandrills, and mangabeys imported to Armenia.
These animals, it turns out, circumvented any veterinary monitoring
before entering Armenia.
Hetq wrote to the Veterinary Inspectorate, asking that it provide
health documents regarding the bonobos (Pan paniscus) and common
chimps (Pan troglodutes) imported to Armenia between 2010 and 2014.
In response, the inspectorate wrote that no such animals were imported
to Armenia in the past three years.
Leaving aside the fact that the individual who has imported such
animals is making a profit from them, such official negligence opens
the door for a variety of contagious viruses to enter the country.
Vivek Menon, the South Asia Regional Director of the International
Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), says that numerous diseases are
transmitted as a result of the illegal trade of wild animals and
birds. He says that when passengers arrive, you can check them. But
you can't in the case of illegal shipment. That cargo can also bring
in diseases. Essentially, monitoring of the sector is impossible. Even
the CITES periodically says that the health of wild animals is an
important factor on which governments must work, and that governments
must focus on the trade in wild animals.
In addition to the fact that Armenia's State Revenue Committee has no
stats regarding the importation of a pygmy chimp on display at Jambo
Exotic Park, and that a case of smuggling is now underway, scores of
primates and monkeys are being imported with invalid documents.
We had Charles Mackay and Elsayed Mohamed, international experst for
the CITES, examine one such document. They found at least three
errors, of which even one makes the document invalid.
The following are lacking in the document:
Exportation, importation or re-exportation permission
The document was dated as signed after the expiration date
The document's stamp security numbers are not the same.
Charles Mackay has been working for the United Kingdom's Revenue and
Customs for the past 36 years and has served as a CITES expert for the
past twenty. When Hetq asked Mr. Mackay how he would react to such a
document in the case of the United Kingdom, he said, "Seeing all this,
we would immediately raise the alarm and respond by sending inquiries
to the exporter country. This is an unacceptable and invalid
document."
Examining the legal permits of Armenia's Ministry of Nature
Protection, the state agency tasked with coordinating implementation
of CITES provisions in the country, we also came across a number of
impermissible errors. (Hetq obtained these documents after a one year
Freedom of Information court case).
According to the experts, the document must show the details of the
importer and exporter. In the document below, the same person, Armen
Khachatryan, appears as both importer and exporter. This, in their
estimation, is unacceptable.
Despite the fact that Armenia signed the CITES (the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in
2009, it doesn't know where such endangered animals are disappearing
to once having reached its shores.
Hetq spoke to the three experts, who had come to Armenia as part of a
five day training course organized by the Foundation for the
Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) regarding the
prevention of the illegal trade of wildlife. The training was funded
by Armenia's Ministry of Nature Protection and the International Fund
for Animal Welfare.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/58899/vanishing-species-international-experts-find-fault-with-cites-documents.html
From: A. Papazian