21 June 2022, Webinar hosted by the ADB

The Webinar “Following the Money Trail of the Illicit Wildlife Trade: Convergence of Maritime Trade Chain Efforts and Financial Crime Investigations” was held online on 21 June 2022. This Webinar was jointly organized by the Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program (TSCFP) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), RILO A/P and ROCB A/P. Ms. Yuko Mamiya, Program Manager, and Ms. Kanyawarat Sitthikunpanit, Program Coordinator of ROCB A/P, attended this Webinar on behalf of ROCB A/P.

In the opening ceremony, Ms. Mamiya read Mr. Kuramoto’s opening remarks on his behalf. In his speech, it was highlighted that the Customs administration plays a crucial role in combatting the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and ROCB A/P has assisted WCO Members in the Asia Pacific region in building their capacity to fight against illicit trade while strengthening cooperation with the other development partners including the WWF. Moreover, the Frontline Customs Officers’ Guide to Key Multilateral Environmental Agreements which the WCO developed and released in December 2021 was introduced in the speech.

During the Webinar, the various guidelines, tools and operations to combat IWT and financial crime, which is closely linked to IWT, were introduced. The way forward towards enhancing cooperation with the financial institutions and the methods to detect IWT at the border were actively discussed.

This Webinar provided the opportunity for the AP Members and the other stakeholders to deepen their understanding of useful tools for enforcement and the recent trends in IWT. Furthermore, the Webinar resulted in enhancing cooperation between ROCB A/P, RILO A/P, WWF, ADB and the other development partners.

For more information, please contact rocb@rocbap.org