Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten to end online ivory sales

Tokyo, Japan, 10th July 2017—Japan’s e-commerce giant, Rakuten, Inc. is banning ivory sales from its online retail site, Rakuten-Ichiba. The new policy prohibiting sales of ivory and products made of Bekko (Hawksbill Turtle shell) was introduced on 1st July.

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Malaysia’s traditional Chinese medicine practitioners support use of alternatives to threatened wildlife

in Chinese

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 9th July 2017–Malaysia’s traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, have come together to find solutions to reduce the use of threatened wildlife in traditional medicines.

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"About" 7.2 tonnes of ivory seized in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, 6th July 2017—Customs officers in Hong Kong seized “about” 7.2 tonnes of ivory from a shipping container arriving from Malaysia at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound on Tuesday, 4th July.

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Flawed Indonesian captive breeding plan facilitates wildlife laundering

in Indonesian

Jakarta, Indonesia, 3rd July 2017—A new study has questioned the validity of Indonesia’s  plan that allowed breeders to produce over four million animals in captivity for trade in 2016

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Ivory seizure exposes Japan’s lax domestic ivory trade controls

Tokyo, Japan, 23rd June 2017—Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department announced on 20th June the seizure of 18 ivory tusks believed to be in illegal trade in violation of LCES[1], the Japanese legislation that regulates trade in threatened species.

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Enforcement officials in China trained on wildlife identification technology

Nanjing, China, June 2017—34 law enforcement officials from nine separate provinces attended a wildlife forensics technology training workshop at Nanjing Forest Police College (NFPC). Represented institutions included the Forest Police, Custom’s Anti-smuggling Bureau and the Environmental Police.

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Newly approved Vietnamese Penal Code should enhance efforts to address wildlife trafficking

Hanoi, Viet Nam, 21st June 2017—Some potentially good news to reduce the impact of illegal wildlife trade on threatened species occurred last night when the Vietnamese National Assembly approved the long awaited 2015 Penal Code. The Penal Code will come into force on 1st January 2018.

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Vietnamese officers learn how to identify the real deal timber

Hanoi, Viet Nam, 15th June 2017—40 Customs Department and Forest Protection Department (FPD) officers commenced a training programme today to increase their understanding of the requirements for a legal timber trade and how to distinguish regulated and prohibited timber in trade.

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