EU Wildlife Trade Regulation
Illegal wildlife trafficking, which constitutes a multi-billion industry that has low detection rates and reaps high rewards, is a threat to the survival of many species of flora and fauna and ecosystems, as well as to the rule of law, local governance and livelihoods of local communities in source countries. The 28 MS of the European Union (EU) form one of the world’s largest consumer markets for legal wildlife and wildlife products. In 2011, the EU was ranked as the largest consumer of fisheries products and as the second greatest importer of timber and timber products (Palin et al., 201310; Oliver, 201311). As such, it is a prominent consumer market for animal and plant species regulated through CITES. According to Europol “EU remains one of the most important markets for the trafficking in endangered species”. Indicatively, in 2010, it was estimated that:
- The value of illegal timber imported into the EU was EUR 3.8 billion, or around 15% of the total import value (WWF UK, 201213);
- About 270 tonnes of illegal bushmeat pass through Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport every year, one of Europe's busiest airports (Chaber et al., 201014).
The European Regulatory Environment:
CITES is implemented in the EU through two main regulations:
- Council Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 (as amended) on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein (the Basic Regulation); and
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 865/2006 (as amended), which lays down detailed rules concerning the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 (the Implementing Regulation).
This set of regulations is also known as the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations. It is directly applicable in all MS. The necessary enforcement provisions must be transferred into national legislation and supplemented with national laws, as these matters remain under the sovereignty of each MS.
Other EU rules that are relevant to the illegal trade in wildlife include:
- EU Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008) provides a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 of 22 October 2009 lays down detailed rules for its implementation;
- EU Timber Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010) places obligations on operators who place timber and timber products on the market;
- Directive 2008/99/EC on the protection of the environment through criminal law (commonly referred to as the ‘Environmental Crime Directive’) includes coverage of illegal trade in wildlife, and was to be transposed by MS by December 2010;
- EU animal welfare regulations: Art 4.1 (c), 4.2 (b), 4.6 (c) and 9.4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 (amending Directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1255/97) Council Directive 99/22/EC of 29 March 1999;
- EU human and animal/plant health regulations, for example, Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 in relation to trade in animals, or Commission Directive 93/50/EEC of 24 June 1993 in relation to trade in plants;
- Wider veterinary regulations, for example, the International Air Transport Association Regulations (IATA) regulations for the air transport of live animals, International Animal Health Code, Chapter1.4. (OIE) IATA – Global;
- The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a global treaty, which provides strategic guidance for source countries.
Finally, the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking adopted by the European Commission on 26 February 2016 is the most recent EU initiative to tackle wildlife crime.