USAID and the Viet Nam Directorate of Market Surveillance build capacity for stronger action on handling wildlife & wildlife product violations

Posted on 9 August 2024

A two-day training on examining, handling wildlife & wildlife product’s violations was organized for market surveillance officers from 31 cities and provinces in the Northern region from Thua Thien Hue upward.

Hai Phong, August 08-09, 2024 – A two-day training on examining, handling wildlife & wildlife product’s violations was organized for market surveillance officers from 31 cities and provinces in the Northern region from Thua Thien Hue upward. The training was conducted by the USAID Saving Threatened Wildlife project, in collaboration with the Directorate of Market Surveillance (DMS), Ministry of Industry and Trade. Over 60 representatives from the National and Provincial Market Surveillance Departments and four representatives from National and Provincial Forest Protection Department benefited from the training and shared practical experiences from their daily work.

From November 2023 to April 2024, investigative reporters, supported by the Saving Threatened project, published 51 articles drawing attention to the illegal wildlife trade operating in border provinces, large cities, wet markets, restaurants and online markets. The results of market surveys by TRAFFIC (2023) and PanNature (2021) show markets, restaurants, pet shops, and traditional medicine shops continue to offer protected wildlife and illegal wildlife products for sale including elephant ivory, pangolin scales, tiger products and freshwater turtles and tortoises.

“Over the past few years, the Market Surveillance force has strictly implemented Directive 28/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on urgent solutions for preventing and fighting the violation of wild animals against the law. Although the Market Surveillance force has made certain achievements in inspecting and controlling illegal wildlife trade, we still face many difficulties and shortcomings. Therefore, this training course will help the Market Surveillance force enhance our knowledge and skills in handling wildlife violations, marking an important step for the Market Surveillance force to successfully complete the assigned tasks in the coming time," said Mr. Than Duc Cong, Director of Professional Market Surveillance Department.

Lecturers from the Directorate of Market Surveillance, Forest Protection Department and Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources covered topics including how to handle seized wildlife and/or wildlife products in wildlife crime cases, tactics used to prevent detection of illegal activities and the responsibilities of officers in responding to wildlife crime cases.

“The Market Surveillance force plays an important role in controlling, inspecting, checking and detecting violations related to the illegal trade of wildlife and wildlife products. Therefore, the training course will be useful for market management officers in handling violations as well as coordinating with other law enforcement agencies in this work,” said Mr. Vu Van Hung, Deputy Head of the Forestry Project Management Board.

At the training course, market management officers enthusiastically discussed the difficulties and obstacles previously faced with preventing the illegal wildlife trade, and proposed practical and effective solutions to increase the effectiveness of enforcement actions and application of the law.

“Illegal wildlife consumption contributes to the destruction of natural habitats and wildlife populations, affecting biodiversity. With their role, market surveillance officers are among the first to detect, respond to and prevent these damages. Therefore, through this training course we hope that market surveillance officers will gain more knowledge and exchange experiences in criminal cases related to illegal wildlife trade”, said Mr. Bui Dang Phong, Deputy Chief of Party of the Saving Threatened Wildlife project.

At the end of the training course, market management officers confirmed that they felt more informed and able to apply the lessons and strengthen the inspection of markets and respond to cases of illegal wildlife trade according to the Law.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Son - Principal Researcher - Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources guides the practice of identifying wildlife specimens.

Practice of identifying wildlife specimens.