From 14 to 25 November 2022, the World Customs Organization (WCO), one of the key partners of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), participated in the 19th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP 19) of the Convention of the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), which took place in Panama City, Panama,.

The WCO is part of this Consortium, which was created in 2010, together with other partners like the CITES Secretariat, Interpol, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the World Bank.

ICCWC is the collaborative effort between five inter-governmental organizations working together to bring coordinated support to the national wildlife law enforcement agencies by building long-term capacity and providing them with the tools, services, and technical support they need to effectively combat wildlife and forest crime

At the Conference, the CITES Secretariat presented the new ICCWC Vision 2030 to the CITES parties, Governments that financially support ICCWC work and the global community, with the overall message “Together we can strive for a world free of wildlife trade”.

This is an important milestone as the ICCWC Vision 2030, developed in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), will guide the work of the ICCWC partners in the decade to come, through two Strategic Action Plans (2023-2026 and 2027-2030).

In her opening remarks, the Secretary-General of the CITES Secretariat, Ms. Ivonne Higuero,  referring to the presentation of the ICCWC Vision 2030, its goals, and outcomes, pointed out that “together we can make a difference, together we can overcome the threat posed by wildlife crime, together we are stronger, and this is embodied by the work of ICCWC”.

For this important event, as this was the case for all partner organizations to show their commitment, a video message from the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, was broadcasted during the Conference, where he highlighted that fighting against Illegal wildlife trade remained high on the Customs' agenda, being one of the illegal profit sources used by organized crime networks.

Secretary General Mikuriya stated “We need to work closely with wildlife and other law enforcement agencies, and the Police to share information, dismantle criminal networks, and prosecute criminals,” and he went on to say that ICCWC offered the perfect framework to facilitate this much-needed collaborative approach among all partners.

The WCO continues to provide strong support to ICCWC beneficiary countries and regions by using all the knowledge, skills, and experience complementary to the WCO tools and services for all countries and members to improve the effectiveness in recognizing and addressing the irregularities along the international supply chain of Illegal Wildlife Trade.