Page 40 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

edward van asch

Convention, including measures to penalize illegal trade.
At the 16th meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties (Bangkok,

2013), Parties recognized the need to work together and took a powerful suite
of Decisions and Resolutions to tackle illegal trade in wildlife. These were
strengthened through the meetings of the CITES Standing Committee in 2014
and 2015 and we have seen a clear shift from pointing fingers to working toge-
ther to solve the problem. We expect this trend to continue at the upcoming
CoP in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September-October this year and we
should continue to focus our collective efforts to ensure such Decisions and
Resolutions adopted by CITES Parties are fully implemented.

The increased emphasis on combating illicit trafficking does not stop
there. In July 2015, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a
Resolution on ‘Tackling Illicit Trafficking in Wildlife’, the first dedicated
Resolution on the topic adopted by the UNGA. In September 2015, we saw the
UN Sustainable Development Summit adopting the new global Sustainable
Development Goals, which represent the agreed vision of the 193 Member
States of the UN for the next 15 years, with specific targets on ending poaching

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