Wild animal and plant trade and protection regulations 2016 annual report: chapter 4
Official title: Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act 2016 Annual Report: Chapter 4
4 Compliance promotion and enforcement of CITES and WAPPRIITA
- 4.1 Compliance promotion
- 4.1.1 Inspections
- 4.1.2 Violations
- 4.1.3 Investigations
- 4.1.4 Convictions
- 4.2 Collaboration with provincial and territorial partners
4.1 Compliance promotion
ECCC works in partnership with a broad range of enforcement partners to secure compliance with WAPPRIITA. These partners include the Canada Border Services Agency, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and territorial law enforcement bodies and conservation authorities, as well as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. ECCC is also an active partner on the international stage in promoting and verifying compliance with CITES.
Compliance with WAPPRIITA is verified by such means as reviewing permits, auditing importers' and exporters' declarations, conducting inspections at ports of entry, conducting routine or spot inspections of wildlife businesses, sharing information with border officials and other national and international agencies, gathering intelligence, and following up on tips provided by the public.
Compliance promotion activities
In 2016, ECCC continued to promote compliance with CITES and WAPPRIITA through more than 20 displays located at various venues, including airports, science centres, customs offices, zoos and border crossings.
Two new CITES digital display messages were produced and shown in 154 Service Canada offices across the country from June through August 2016. The purpose of the messages was to educate and inform Canadians who plan to travel regarding the possible prohibition or permitting requirement for wildlife items purchased abroad, and the possible permit requirement when travelling with an exotic pet.
Long description of poster entitled: Going on vacation or travelling abroad?
Buying souvenirs?
Beware! They could be made from endangered animals and plants.
Find out what's prohibitied and what needs a permit.
Check before you travel at canada.ca/protected-species
Long description of poster entitled: Travelling with an exotic pet?
When travelling between countries, you may need a pet passport for exotic pets such as parrots, lizards, snakes, turtles and hybrid cats.
Check before you travel at canada.ca/protected-species
ECCC also provided some messaging, posters, as well as display items to a CITES exhibit developed by and on display at the Riverview Park and Zoo in Peterborough, Ontario. The Riverview Park and Zoo is a member of Canada's accredited Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA). The focus of their 2016 exhibit was entirely on CITES, ran daily for the months of June, July and August, and reached a total of 6000+ visitors. The exhibit focused on the ivory trade, Asian turtles, sharks, and how the public can be more aware of prohibited and permitted wildlife items in their own lives, particularly when travelling.
Enforcement activities
Illegal trade in wildlife threatens the conservation of species and the socio-economic benefits that legal trade in wildlife can provide. Illegal trade undermines conservation efforts to manage populations, for example, through use of quotas (maximum number of specimens that can sustainably be removed from the wild population). Populations of species may be decimated by over-exploitation driven by illegal trade.
Wildlife trafficking worldwide has been increasing in value since 2005. There is now clear recognition in the international community that the issue of the illegal wildlife trade has reached significant global proportions. Illegal wildlife trade and environmental crime involve a wide range of flora and fauna across all continents, estimated to be worth $70 to $213 billion USD annually.Footnote 1 Based on UN statistics and criminal intelligence through INTERPOL,Footnote 2 the illegal trade and poaching of plants and other wildlife is estimated to cause loss of resources worth $7 to $23 billion USD per year globally (2016 estimate).
4.1.1 Inspections
Inspections are conducted to ensure that imports and exports of animals and plants are compliant with the requirements of WAPPRIITA. They are also instrumental for on-going information collection of emerging non-compliance risks and threats. The subsequent analyses of this information inform the development of risk-based priorities for compliance verification.
ECCC inspected 1,308 items such as passenger vehicles and trucks, people, packages, and conducted paper/administration reviewsduring the course of 798 inspections under WAPPRIITA in 2016.
Inspections are either proactively planned or conducted in response to a referral from other federal departments or agencies such as the Canada Border Services Agency, provincial or territorial governments or the public. More than half of the inspections conducted under WAPPRIITA focused on species at high conservation risk and/or facing a high level of non-compliance. 167 were focused on Canadian species meeting these criteria, while 267 focused on foreign species. In response to referrals for verification of compliance with WAPPRIITA, or planned maintenance inspections, other species were inspected under the Act and its regulations; however they were not identified as species at high risk for conservation and/or high risk for non-compliance.
Figure 3 illustrates the distribution of inspections conducted in 2016 under WAPPRIITA and its regulations by priority.
Figure 4 presents the inspections conducted in 2016 under WAPPRIITA and its regulations by region.
Long description for Figure 3
Figure 3 is a pie chart showing the following data: Inspections conducted in 2016 under WAPPRIITA by priority; Canadian species at high risk (21%); Foreign species at high risk (33%); Other species inspected in response to referral or planned maintenance inspections (46%).
Long description for Figure 4
Figure 4 is a pie chart showing the following data: Inspections conducted in 2016 under WAPPRIITA by region; Pacific and Yukon Region (39%); Prairie and Northern Region (33%); Ontario Region (15%); Quebec Region (11%); Atlantic Region (2%).
Violations
There were 206 cases of violation of WAPPRIITA or its regulations recorded in 2016 that resulted in issuing tickets, verbal and written warnings, seizures and opening of investigations.
4.1.3 Investigations
In 2016, ECCC opened 95 new investigations involving international or interprovincial movements of wildlife. ECCC publishes the outcomes of its main investigations on the Department's website. That is a slight increase of 13% compared to the number of investigations conducted 2015. Media releases and enforcement notifications are available online.
Figure 5 illustrates the distribution of investigations files opened in 2016 under WAPPRIITA by priority.
Figure 6 presents the investigations opened in 2016 under WAPPRIITA by region.
Long description for Figure 5
Figure 5 is a pie chart showing the following data: Investigation opened in 2016 under WAPPRIITA by priority; Foreign species at high risk (60%); Canadian species at high risk (40%).
Long description for Figure 6
Figure 6 is a pie chart showing the following data: Investigations opened in 2016 under WAPPRIITA by region; Pacific and Yukon Region (33%); Prairie and Northern Region (27%); Ontario Region (10%); Quebec Region (17%); Atlantic Region (13%).
4.1.4 Convictions
In 2016, a total of 35 convictions were made for violations of WAPPRIITA or its regulations, which resulted in fines at the total amount of $117,196. Only one prosecution that ended in 2016 did not result in any conviction.
Four examples of investigations that led to prosecutions and resulted in convictions in 2016 for violations of WAPPRIITA or its regulations are described below.
- One-year Worldwide Hunting Ban for Convicted Offender
- Auction House Illegally Exports Protected Species
- Ontario Businessman Guilty of Smuggling Elephant Ivory
- Fine of $25,000 for Unlawfully Importing Florida Softshell Turtles
1. One-year Worldwide Hunting Ban for Convicted Offender
Photo: © Dr. Gordon Court
On June 13, 2016, an individual from Calgary, Alberta was found guilty, in the Provincial Court of Alberta, of illegally importing into Canada the carcass of an Alaskan Brown Bear. During sentencing on October 28, 2016, the individual was ordered to pay a penalty of $13,500 for violating WAPPRIITA. Of this penalty, $12,150 will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund (EDF), and $1,350 is a fine payable to the Receiver General. An additional penalty of $1,300 will be paid to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
In addition to the fines, the individual is prohibited, for a period of two years, from importing and exporting wildlife to and from Canada. The court also imposed a one-year prohibition from hunting in or outside Canada, and he is required to forfeit the bear hide and skull.
Alaskan Brown Bear is a member of the grizzly family. The Grizzly Bear (western population) has been assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as being a species of special concern in Canada, is considered threatened in the US, and is listed under CITES. It is one of the most iconic North American species, recognized around the world as a symbol of Canada's natural wealth, and is the subject of intense conservation efforts across the continent.
This case is one of a number of cases initiated as part of an extensive, five-year international investigation of the illegal hunting of wildlife in Alaska, British Columbia, and Yukon. ECCC, Alberta Justice and Solicitor General (Fish and Wildlife), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Alaska wildlife troopers worked together after Alaskan authorities determined that several Alberta hunters were illegally killing brown bears and then importing them into Canada.
2. Auction House Illegally Exports Protected Species
Photo: Daniel Breton © Environment and Climate Change Canada
On February 11, 2016, an auction house in Montréal was fined $23,500 by the Provincial Court. The auction house was ordered to forfeit artifacts after pleading guilty to 12 counts of unlawfully exporting products made from wildlife, and four counts of knowingly possessing controlled wildlife products for the purpose of exporting them from Canada. Both of these actions are prohibited under WAPPRIITA. The fine resulting from the WAPPRIITA offences will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund.
Between April 2012 and November 2014, the company exported artifacts made from parts of protected species of wildlife to various countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The investigation revealed that the auction house did not obtain the required import and export permits for these items, in contravention of WAPPRIITA. Fourteen art items which were seized and forfeited during the investigation were worth approximately $30,000 including items containing narwhal tusks, walrus ivory, lynx fur, leopard fur, elephant ivory and coral.
To investigate this file, wildlife officers from ECCC worked in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the USFWS officers from Florida, Nevada and New York.
3. Ontario Businessman Guilty of Smuggling Elephant Ivory
Photo: Todd Kish © Environment and Climate Change Canada
On November 14, 2016, an Ontario corporation and its director pleaded guilty to unlawfully exporting a leather product made from python skin and two pieces of elephant ivory, in contravention of WAPPRIITA. A combined fine totalling $12,500 was levied, and both the company and its owner were each sentenced to two years of probation. Both the ivory and the python-case exports were made without the necessary export permits required under WAPPRIITA.
This case represents a good example of effective partnership on an international scale. Acting on intelligence, ECCC's Enforcement Branch and the USFWS's Office of Law Enforcement began an investigation into the activities of the company in December 2013.
The joint investigation revealed that, on one occasion, the company placed a small elephant-ivory tusk, later determined through scientific testing to be from an elephant killed in 2001, along with an ivory carving into a parcel falsely labeled as a “gift ornament.” The package was mailed to a buyer in the United States, with no return address. These efforts to avoid detection were unsuccessful as the package was intercepted by USFWS special agents. Both pieces of ivory were determined to be from the African Forest Elephant.
4. Fine of $25,000 for Unlawfully Importing Florida Softshell Turtles
Photo: passion4nature
© Thinkstock
On March 24, 2016, a Toronto supply company and its owner pleaded guilty to one count of smuggling into Canada 40 Florida Softshell Turtles in contravention of a foreign state's law. The owner was ordered to pay $25,000 by the Ontario Court of Justice. The court also found aggravating factors as the individual was aware of the import requirements for this species, coupled with the fact that all 40 turtles were found to have fish hooks in their esophagi indicating that they were taken from the wild.
Florida Softshell Turtles are prized for their meat, which has led to a decline in their numbers in Florida. In response, the State of Florida has banned the commercial fishing of these turtles.
This operation, which started in December 2013, represents a great example of ECCC enforcement officers and Intelligence Team working together as part of a joint-forces operation with USFWS's Office of Law Enforcement.
4.2 Collaboration with provincial and territorial partners
While WAPPRIITA is federal legislation, several provincial and territorial agencies have designated officers to enforce the Act. The collaboration between Canada and its provincial and territorial partners is advantageous because it results in better coordination of efforts and resources in undertaking wildlife enforcement actions, especially large-scale operations. As mentioned in Section 1.3 of this report, agreements and memoranda of understanding exist between ECCC and Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut to support the administration and enforcement of WAPPRIITA in accordance with their own legislation.
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