(SINGAPORE) sticks made of ramin

[Guest guest]

Electric New Paper - 19th Feb 06

 

Seized: Cue sticks made from protected trees

By Teh Jen Lee

 

February 19, 2006

 

 

YOU could say he was wrong on cue. A sports shop owner found himself

at the wrong end of the law when he imported cue sticks made of wood

from a protected tree species.

 

The owner had imported 500 sticks made of ramin worth about $5,000

from China last March.

 

Priced at $10 each, the sticks had passed through China, Taiwan and

Hong Kong before it reached Singapore.

 

As the goods had passed uneventfully through other countries,

shopowner Anil Kumar Sachdeva, 50, thought he only had to make a

routine declaration to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA)

for custom clearance.

 

But Mr Bobby Lee, a senior AVA wildlife enforcement officer, said

imports of ramin and ramin-made products must be declared to AVA.

 

ENDANGERED SPECIES

 

Said Mr Lee: 'The moment he declared the shipment, we were alerted to

the fact that the sticks were made of ramin, which is an endangered

tropical species protected by Cites.'

 

Cites is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species,

which Singapore signed in 1987.

 

Ramin was put on Appendix II in January last year, which means Cites

permits from both import and export countries are required for trade

in the wood's products.

 

Previously, it was on Appendix III, which only requires a certificate

from the country of origin.

 

Said Mr Chen Hin Keong, senior forest trade adviser for Traffic, a

Kuala Lumpur-based organisation monitoring wildlife trade: 'Commercial

ramin is only found in Malaysia and Indonesia. It needs protection as

it's threatened by illegal logging and illegal trade.'

 

AVA confiscated all the cues because the shop did not have a Cites

permit for the ramin material.

 

The sticks were sold at a public auction for $1,500.

 

AVA holds such auctions whenever it accumulates enough such confiscated items.

 

Mr Lee said: 'We explained to the owner why he had to surrender the

sticks. It was a case of so near, yet so far.

 

'He accepted that he had made a mistake. We gave him a stern warning

not to repeat the offence.'

 

The owner, who could have been fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed up to

a year, said his supplier had told him that he didn't need the Cites

permit for ramin.

 

Mr Lee said: 'This shows that ignorance is not bliss. He should not

have taken the supplier's word for it.'

 

He added that the most updated list of Cites species is available on

the website www.cites.org

 

AVA will also circulate information on list changes and publicise them

if they are likely to impact trade.

 

HIGHER PENALTIES

 

Nevertheless, the onus is on importers to educate themselves. This is

especially because changes to the Endangered Species (Import and

Export) Act passed in Parliament last month mean higher penalties.

 

This is to better reflect the severity of the offences and to

strengthen deterrence against illegal wildlife trade.

 

Also, the previous maximum fine of $5,000 per species was deemed an

ineffective deterrent.

 

The Bill will increase the maximum penalty for illegal trafficking of

endangered species to $50,000 and/or two years' imprisonment.

 

The fine is applicable to each Cites-protected animal or plant, or

part, involved in the offence, up to $500,000.

 

The Bill will also strengthen AVA's enforcement powers, enabling it to

investigate illegal transhipment or transit cases, and to search,

inspect, detain, seize or confiscate any illegal Cites-protected

species.

 

This provision will apply to travellers and cargo passing through Singapore.

 

It will enable AVA to act decisively upon receiving strong evidence

and tip-offs of illegal Cites-protected species being shipped through

here.

 

It prevents Singapore from being used as a conduit for the smuggling

of Cites-protected species.

 

AVA said the Bill will become law after it gets presidential approval.