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CBD Distr. GENERAL UNEP/CBD/IAS/EM/2015/1/4 17 November 2015 ENGLISH ONLY EXPERT MEETING ON ALIEN SPECIES IN WILDLIFE TRADE, EXPERIENCES IN THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENTS AND DEVELOPMENT OF DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS FOR MANAGEMENT OF INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES Montreal, Canada, 28-30 October 2015 Item 3 of the provisional agenda1 METHODS OF ALERTING SUPPLIERS AND POTENTIAL BUYERS TO THE RISK POSED BY INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES SOLD VIA E-COMMERCE Note by the Executive Secretary I INTRODUCTION 1. In paragraph 9 (c) of decision XII/17 of the Conference of the Parties requested the Executive Secretary to explore with relevant partners, including the standard-setting bodies recognized by the World Trade Organization (the International Plant Protection Convention, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and the Codex Alimentarius Commission) and other members of the inter-agency liaison group on invasive alien species, methods of alerting suppliers and potential buyers to the risk posed by invasive alien species sold via e-commerce, and report on progress to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice. 2. Accordingly, the Executive Secretary in collaboration with the International Maritime Organization convened the sixth meeting of the Inter-agency Liaison Group on Invasive Alien Species in London, United Kingdome from 31 March to 1 April 2015 to explore the method of alerting suppliers and potential buyers to the risk posed by invasive alien species sold via e-commerce and other matters on invasive alien species.2 3. In addition the Executive Secretary sent notification 2015-052 inviting Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to submit information related to their experiences on alien species sold via e-commerce. The following Parties and other Government submitted information on their experiences and concerns on alien species sold via e-commerce: Mexico, South Africa, Sweden and USA. 1 https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/ais/iasem-2015-01/official/iasem-2015-01-01-en.doc Report of the sixth meeting of the Inter-agency Liaison Group on Invasive Alien Species is accessible at http://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/ais/iaslg-05/official/iaslg-05-report-en.pdf 2 UNEP/CBD/IAS/EM/2015/1/4 Page 2 4. This note summarizes, in section II, the submissions from Parties and other Government and the information provided from members of the Inter-agency Liaison Group on Invasive Alien Species at its sixth meeting. Possible approaches of alerting suppliers and potential buyers to the risk posed by invasive alien species sold via e-commerce are presented in section III. Section IV contains conclusion for management of trade in wildlife (UNEP/CBD/IAS/EM/2015/1/3) and e-commerce that may pose risks for biodiversity. II. INFORMATION ON E-COMMERCE PROVIDED BY PARTIES, OTHER GOVERNENTS AND RELEVANT ORGANIZATIONS A. Issues expressed by Parties and other Governments 5. Parties and other Government indicated that e-commerce is rapidly growing and recognized as a priority pathway to manage, however, to address the risk of introduction and spread of invasive and potentially invasive alien species, a number of government entities which have relevant jurisdiction to ecommerce could not adequately take actions in addressing the risk, yet. 6. In Mexico there is a Single Window of Mexican International Trade which interconnects all federal government agencies involved in international trade. The electronic tracking of goods is achieved ligand systems and validation of emission permits and authorizations with the customs authority. Thus, the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) and the Directorate General of Forest and Soil Management of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) systematize, automate and homologated forest management at the national level, taking advantage of technology and information systems. This in order to generate and receive the information online, derived from acts of authority in forestry for public and private decision-makers (statistics, indicators, maps) and forest and environmental planning. 7. In South Africa the escalating use of internet and e-commerce, to a large extent has not been noticed by policy makers, yet. Rhodes University and other researchers have conducted online and manual surveys on e-commerce to determine the extent of movement of invasives as well as indigenous water submerged plant species in South Africa. For the purpose of this study 64 stores and 23 aquarists were surveyed. Four areas of risk were identified in this study. The study concluded that: (i) a variety of invasive and/or prohibited plants are sold by pet stores; (ii) there is a lack of knowledge regarding identification as well as regulation of water submerged species, which may then result in the unintentional trade of potentially invasive species. It seems that, in many cases, the pet stores are ignorant or misinformed of the potential dangers, rather than intentionally attempting to breach the legislation; 3) Aquarists own, trade and move plants in and around the country, which makes it very difficult to monitor which species are being moved around South Africa and to what extent. Finally, the internet is a pathway of potential concern, but it is difficult to quantify its contribution to the trade of invasive species in South Africa. 8. In Sweden the import and sale of living crayfish for home aquariums continues, despite a national ban on the import of all living specimens of species within the Astacidae, Cambaridae och Parastacidae families. E-commerce is the main source of this illegal import to Sweden. More than 125 species of freshwater crayfish are offered for sale on the Internet. Internet sites locate in an EU country are identified as the main source of illegal import of the living crayfish to Sweden. The purpose of the ban on import of living crayfish is to prevent the introduction and spread of pathogens that affect the endangered native noble crayfish Astacus astacus. Reports of sales of living crayfish in local pet and aquarium stores are not uncommon, despite the restriction on import and extensive information campaigns. The European Commission is presently working on a proposal, within the European Union’s regulation 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species, If adopted it would restrict the import, transport, sale and use of a number of crayfish species . This would strengthen UNEP/CBD/IAS/EM/2015/1/4 Page 3 the Swedish national ban on import by regulating suppliers in other EU countries, but this would apply only to the specified crayfish species listed within the regulation. There is a risk that the focus of trade with crayfish for aquarium use would shift to other crayfish species, which could also have potentially high risks for biodiversity. The need for informing potential buyers of the restrictions on trade with these species and the risks to biological diversity will thus still remain a priority. 9. The Government of USA submitted a comprehensive paper on invasive alien species and ecommerce approved by Invasive Species Advisory Committee in 20123. The e-commerce in USA where a large number of e-commerce sites are developed with various commercial scales. According to the submission, Experts estimated that there were at least 4,000 businesses and 15,000 individuals advertising reptiles over the Internet. Numbers of e-commercial traders of horticultural species were difficult to estimate, but conservative guesses place them in the tens of thousands. In addition, the potential buyers of the items sold via e-commerce of the world are also using the e-commerce sites in USA and be influenced with innovation on the platforms. The issues identified in the paper that seem to be also common in other countries are summarized as follows: (a) Increased diversity: The Internet has vastly expanded the range of people and businesses engaged in the movement and sale of plants and animals. The array of mechanisms for making transactions is also highly diverse, including standard retail websites, auction sites, local business and want ads, portals that facilitate communication between buyers and sellers, and specialty chat forums and user groups. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare are further changing the landscape, particularly through informal retail arrangements; (b) Regulations and enforcement: The Internet has facilitated an increase in sales of organisms by individuals, not just by lowering overhead and transaction costs, but also by helping sellers circumvent state and federal regulatory requirements. The Internet has also made it easier to exchange information on how to avoid regulations, such as by falsifying documents or using transshipments, transfers between more than one shipper. There is no one comprehensive listing or guide to federal and state regulations on the transport and sale of plants, animals, and materials that could be a pathway for the transport of invasive species; (c) Education and public awareness: Perhaps the greatest commercial virtue of the Internet is that it allows individuals to readily find information, albeit sometimes unreliable, about products and sales. Individuals can locate sellers, details of the features and care of species, and information about how to circumvent rules or smuggle banned species. The Internet can also be a powerful tool for educating consumers. There is a need to develop more effective methods to harness the power of the Internet to inform those involved in on-line transactions; (d) Complex regulatory system4: Although the species that are regulated should be listed under the jurisdiction of the national and sub-national levels, different authorities and their coverage of regulated species are not in a single information source and this situation makes sellers, buyers and other stakeholders in e-commerce difficult to abide the regulations; (e) Postal and express delivery services4: Since the Internet is often used for transactions across significant distances, purchased specimens are generally sent by mail or express delivery services. Such services have their own set of regulations concerning the shipment of species. The inspection at the border does not apply the same risk screening measures to the all. 3 https://www.cbd.int/invasive/doc/meetings/isaem-2015-01/WILDLIFE%20TRADE%20and%20ECOMMERCE/iasem-usa-wt.ecom-01-en.pdf 4 Text is adjusted by the Secretariat of the CBD and not the same as the submission from the USA. UNEP/CBD/IAS/EM/2015/1/4 Page 4 (f) Taxonomy and species identification: Proper naming and identification of species is a major issue in both traditional commerce and e-commerce in live organisms. The issue includes: (i) (ii) The exact species may not be known to science; The organism may not be identified in the shipment to the level of the species, but rather just to the genus, family, or other, higher level; (iii) Species may be incorrectly identified, intentionally or unintentionally; (iv) A trade or common name may be used that does not refer unambiguously and consistently to any one species; (v) Taxonomic classifications and scientific names can change over time; (vi) Standards for naming and labeling species for shipment and sale do not exist. (g) Hitchhikers: Trade in wildlife is a major vector for the introduction and spread of pests, pathogens, parasites, and diseases. B. Management of risks associated with e-commerce at the international level International Plant Protection Organization: 10. At its seventh session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) in 2012 it was recognized that lack of knowledge of a customer’s location in e-commerce can lead to consignments of regulated articles being imported into a country without the phytosanitary certificates which may be required by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of that country. 11. In order for the global plant protection framework to keep pace with this, NPPOs, Regional Plant Protection Organizations (RPPOs) and the IPPC Secretariat should collaborate with other stakeholders to monitor internet trade and to ensure that goods ordered in this way comply with relevant phytosanitary regulations on the basis of risk analysis. This requires improvements in collaboration, monitoring and enforcement across the pathways known for transporting those goods, particularly postal and express delivery services. 12. At its ninth session of the CPM, the CPM recommended on Internet Trade (eCommerce) in Plants and other Regulated Articles as follows: (a) This recommendation applies to a variety of products ordered and delivered through ecommerce. It includes plants for planting, other articles such as plants for consumption, soils, growing media, and living organisms in a wide range of taxa that are known or have the potential to be plant pests and are sold to and exchanged by hobbyists, collectors, researchers etc. Many of these articles may be sold in a variety of product configurations that may incorporate or be infused with plants for planting though the product itself may not be recognized immediately to contain them (e.g. articles of clothing, footwear, packaging, greeting cards, paper products, home accessories, novelty products etc.). (b) To respond to this developing situation, the CPM encourages: NPPOs and RPPOs to: (i) Develop mechanisms for identifying e-commerce traders based within their countries and regions; (ii) Establish mechanisms to identify products of concern that may be purchased via e-commerce, with a focus on potential high-risk pathways such as plants for planting, soils and growing media, living organisms etc. and to explore options ensuring they comply with appropriate phytosanitary regulations based on risk assessment; UNEP/CBD/IAS/EM/2015/1/4 Page 5 (iii) Promote compliance by customers and traders operating through e-commerce with the phytosanitary import requirements of importing countries and provide adequate information on the risks posed by bypassing such requirements. (iv) Strengthen coordination with postal and express courier services to ensure that relevant information of the phytosanitary risks and phytosanitary measures are conveyed to e-commerce traders; (v) investigate the phytosanitary risks posed by all forms of distance selling and if necessary to include these purchasing methods in their risk management activities NPPOs, RPPOs and the IPPC Secretariat to: (i) Raise awareness of the risks of bypassing phytosanitary regulations. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): 13. At its 58th meeting (Geneva, 2009) the Standing Committee of the CITES, established a working group on e-commerce of specimens of CITES-listed species. The working group suggested through eforum established by the Secretariat of the CITES that the Working Group should focus on two main topics: (i) the technical infrastructure of the Internet which is evolving rapidly and offer a variety of different mechanisms to conduct trade; and (ii) the legal framework required to ensure sustainable, legal and traceable trade through the Internet. 14. At its 16th meeting (Bangkok, 2013), the Conference of the Parties adopted Decision 16.62 where it directs the Standing Committee, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the CITES, to liaise with the World Customs Organization with regard to the inclusion of CITES-listed species in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System in order to address the illegal trade in CITES-listed species. 15. At its 6th meeting of the Inter-agency Liaison Group on Invasive Alien Species in London, UK, from 31 March to 1 April 2015, the Secretariat of CITES informed the Group that the Single Window Initiative which is the national level implementation on electronic system to submit import information by traders may have a potential to record and track the international movement of consignments with wildlife specimens. The World Customs Organization provided its members a harmonized data model5 and every country may develop their own Single Window system with the harmonized data model and guidelines6. The national Single Window system may allow border officials to collect the information on live species movement in international trade and transmit the information to the appropriate departments or agencies that are responsible for regulating various kinds of goods and commodity. An example of implementation of the Single Window Initiative: 16. As the Single Window system is expected to be implemented at the national level. In this document a Single Window system currently operated by the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) is presented as an example, in view of exploring the potential methods of alerting suppliers and potential buyers to the risk posed by invasive alien species sold via e-commerce, as requested by the Conference of the Parties to the CBD. 5 http://www.wcoomd.org/en/topics/facilitation/activities-and-programmes/singlewindow/~/media/F5B22919BC5049A18CD48371B467C122.ashx 6 http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/cefact/recommendations/rec33/rec33_trd352e.pdf UNEP/CBD/IAS/EM/2015/1/4 Page 6 17. In Canada the action plan “Beyond Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness”7 sets out joint priorities for achieving that vision within the four areas of cooperation identified in the Beyond the Border Declaration: addressing threats early; trade facilitation, economic growth and jobs; cross-border law enforcement; and critical infrastructure and cyber-security. 18. Nine Canadian departments and agencies will participate in the Single Window system along with the CBSA: Environment Canada; Canadian Food Inspection Agency (NPPO); Canadian Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada; Health Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Public Health Agency of Canada; and Transport Canada and Nuclear Safety Commission; 19. With regard to live species with risk of biological invasion, import regulations on agricultural production, importation of regulated articles such as human and terrestrial animal pathogens and biological toxins are already implemented as of September 2015. This single integrated solution may provide a potential to the trade community that applies e-commerce with the option to satisfy the regulatory import requirements of multiple government agencies via a single electronic transmission of shipment information through an electronic import document called Integrated Import Declaration. 20. It is noteworthy that the “Guidance on devising and implementing measures to address the risks associated with the introduction of alien species as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, and as live bait and live food” annexed to decision XII/16 contains as a measure that all consignments of pet, aquarium and terrarium species, live bait or live food should clearly indicate the taxon (at the lowest known taxonomic rank and if available, the genotype, using the scientific name and the Taxonomic Serial Number or alternatives to such numbers), as well as any relevant requirements on confinement, handling and transport. The potential of the Single Window system is high to present information on the regulated live species under the national jurisdiction as it develops. This facilitates all relevant regulatory bodies working together and connecting those importers who may shift from the paper-based import declaration to the Single Window system. III. POSSIBLE FUTURE APPROACHES 21. To evaluate appropriate methods for alerting suppliers and potential buyers to the risk posed by invasive alien species sold via e-commerce, this section provides some analysis towards the possible ways forward. 22. The issues of e-commerce summarized in section II A indicated that relevant regulatory authorities are facing a new and complex challenge in ensuring that information regarding the risk of invasion associated with the goods and live species in e-commerce is available. The challenge and some elements of solution in implementing an alert mechanism include the following points: (a) The mechanism of e-commerce is diverse. Development and implementation of a standard method of alerting the risk on diverse platforms may not be easy technical task for developers of every vendor’s site. Also, many small scale vendors’ and hobbyists’ exchange sites use servers of a thirdparty that are beyond of their control; (b) As a nature of the internet business in general, observance of existing regulations would not be a priority for many vendors and developers of the e-commerce sites. Given that complex regulations relevant to live species trade are difficult to find in a single source, many vendors would not understand the necessary steps to declare the transaction and reconcile them to abide with all applicable regulations. Voluntary implementation of any method of alerting on risk of the items sold via e-commerce seems to be limited unless the method has the potential to facilitate e-commerce; 7 http://actionplan.gc.ca/en/content/beyond-border#sthash.2FXyBp9x.dpuf UNEP/CBD/IAS/EM/2015/1/4 Page 7 (c) Valid information on e-commerce sites can provide opportunities for potential buyers to learn about the wise selection of items that are not threatening biodiversity. Some campaigns on consumers’ smart behavior can be organized through the vendors’ network (e.g. Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council) in collaboration with invasive species management authorities. For example, Ontario’s Invading Species Awareness Programme8 in Canada, Invasive Plant Alert9 in South Africa, BePlantwise10 in UK may provide insights to vendors and developers to develop an alert mechanism; (d) A barrier for e-commerce users to abide complex regulations with the numerous authorities could be improved if countries implemented the Single Window Initiative for their import/export permission process. However, it should be noted that this is a measure for regulated articles with the country’s concern at the border for speedy and effective clearance. Appropriate legislation and border measures should be in place in advance if the country expects alerting on the risk to suppliers and potential buyers in e-commerce. The risk associated with the items sold via e-commerce without appropriate risk assessment (of which result could be vary in different biogeographic region) cannot be covered by the electronic system, unless the national legislation sets to prevent importation of all items of which risks were not assessed. Such import measure has been taken by the Government of Australia and New Zealand, where plant and animal specimens considered to be suitable for live import are listed based on the result of risk assessment; (e) Border control inspection could be less strict for some shipments service with various reasons. The possible interception of suspected items at the border is set under the national jurisdiction. The items sold via e-commerce without appropriate risk assessment may not be screened unless a specific commodity standard on the export, shipping, handling, import and discard on live organisms is developed and well implemented at the national level; (f) The taxonomic name on a consignment may not lead to preventing entry of invasive and potential invasive alien species, especially if the taxon was not indicated accurately or only with higher rank of taxon. This fact implies that species-specific measures may not be effectively implemented unless strong capacity in taxonomy exists in the e-commerce community. The expected alert mechanism should be developed with close collaboration with taxonomic institutions and invasion biology experts. Some standards (e.g. Taxonomic Serial Number used by the Governments of Canada and USA for the Single Window) or any other equivalent in global environment should be considered for the development of alert method; (g) The introduction of pathogens and other microscopic invasives associated with live species trade may increase with the growth of e-commerce. Application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures on the items sold via e-commerce, including the live species sold without appropriate risk assessment, should be promoted globally. 23. Beside the risk of biological invasion, the CITES listed species are also regulated their export and import, and permitted trade of the listed species by the national authority are recorded in the CITES Trade Database. As the CITES working group on e-commerce pointed out the trade via e-commerce may not be sufficiently recorded and therefore not traceable in the CITES Trade Database. Although CITES listed species are not always with risk of biological invasion those not-traceable cases may increase with the growing e-commerce. 24. To promote a certificate systems as provisions under the IPPC and the CITES, national measures have to be in place. The Single Window Initiative may have a high potential to ensure that the 8 http://www.invadingspecies.com/ http://www.sanbi.org/information/infobases/invasive-alien-plant-alert 10 http://www.nonnativespecies.org/beplantwise/ 9 UNEP/CBD/IAS/EM/2015/1/4 Page 8 anonymous suppliers and buyers in e-commerce provide records of their transactions and take the formal steps to obtain the permissions set by the country and fill the forms to meet import requirements. 25. The fifth National Reports11 to the CBD showed that many Parties have started to list priority species to regulate their imports and minimize the risk of establishment and spread. The information on alien species that are of the concern in each country can be made available through the national Single Window system. 26. The development of a national Single Window system also supports to connect the relevant authorities under the jurisdiction for management of invasive alien species, which include the authorities for the environment, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, health, transport and finally trade, economy and treasury that oversees customs. The implementation of the Single Window system at the national level would facilitate the environmental concerns in wildlife/living species trade to be reflected to the border controls and contribute to mainstreaming biodiversity, as it develops. IV. CONCLUSION 27. The risk of invasions posed by the growing e-commerce is increasing. Parties, other Governments and relevant international organizations are invited: (a) To raise awareness on biological invasion risk associated with items sold via e-commerce through various internet media in particular on the risk of live species sold without appropriate risk assessment; (b) To promote campaigns on various internet media with close collaboration between the national and regional authorities in the environment, international trade, border controls, as well as industry network that are related to trade in wildlife; (c) To consider incorporation of regulatory measures in the implementation of the national Single Window taking into account the risk of biological invasions of a wide range of taxa that are sold via e-commerce. 28. Recognizing the lack of commodity-specific international standards to prevent and minimize the risks associated with live organisms in trade, the CBD and relevant international organizations should: (a) Prioritize standard setting for the export, shipping, handling and import of live organisms and report to SBSTTA on its progress prior to the 14 meeting of the Conference of the Parties (b) Promote the Single Windows Initiative and facilitate its national implementation, in collaboration with World Customs Organization and relevant United Nations bodies, to include appropriate recording and tracking of goods and commodities containing live organisms; (c) With regard to the consignments containing live organisms, promote, in collaboration with IATA and relevant international bodies for shipping and transporting of goods in trade, appropriate labeling of the potential hazard to biodiversity and measures preventing the escape of live organisms from confined condition. __________ 11 https://www.cbd.int/reports/nr5/