Dresden (dpa/sn) - Customs asks holidaymakers to be more careful when it comes to species protection. In 2021 alone, officials at the Dresden main customs office registered more than 200 violations and secured around 2,000 animals and plants or products made from them, as the authority announced on Friday in Dresden. This mostly related to goods made of snake and crocodile skin, coral, ivory and substances made from protected plant species. According to the information, figures from 2022 are not yet available.
However, customs reported on individual cases from the previous year. In addition to X-ray technology, sniffer dogs in particular helped to uncover them. For example, an air freight consignment from Senegal to Laos containing more than 800 dried seahorses was seized at Leipzig Airport. In addition, customs officers in Leipzig withdrew 16 pieces of rhinoceros horn with a total weight of 6.5 kilograms. They were hidden in the false bottom of a shipment from Angola to Vietnam.
Customs confiscate protected animals and plants and goods made from them that are found without the required documents at import and export as well as during transfer. It is irrelevant whether they are transported privately, commercially, in tourist traffic, by post or by other means. According to customs, most offenses are committed by holidaymakers who bring such products with them as souvenirs out of ignorance or lack of awareness of wrongdoing. At the same time, commercial trade in protected animals and plants is considered a lucrative business.
March 3rd of each year is celebrated as World Wildlife Day and commemorates the signing of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora - was sealed 50 years ago and is considered the oldest and largest international environmental protection agreement. It currently includes about 5950 animal and 32,800 plant species. So far, 184 countries feel committed to the treaty.
