Combatting Illegal Wildlife Trafficking

Combatting Illegal Wildlife Trafficking.

WSC’s Position

The World Shipping Council (WSC) and its 21 Member companies are strongly opposed to illegal wildlife trafficking. We support effective and workable measures to minimize the illegal wildlife trade. We collaborate with key governmental stakeholders including the World Customs Organization (WCO), International Maritime Organization (IMO), and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the private sector and NGOs such as United for Wildlife and WWF to mitigate the threat of illegal wildlife trafficking at national, regional, and global levels.

WSC's Position Statement

Strengthen mechanisms for screening, identifying, and reporting shipments suspected to include illegal wildlife.
WSC is collaborating with the National Cargo Bureau (NCB) and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) to add their screening tool to the WSC’s Cargo Safety Program, to screen for mis-declared or undeclared wildlife products. This industry-wide IWT screening tool will complement individual carriers’ own screening tools. It is the intent to gradually add more types of goods to the screening tool.
Regularly update and train member company staff on identification protocols and the latest regulatory changes to combat wildlife trafficking effectively.
Foster strong public-private partnerships with organizations such as UNODC, Interpol, United for Wildlife and supply chain parties to collectively combat illicit trafficking, and share best practices and intelligence on trafficking networks, emerging trends and modi operandi.
The World Shipping Council, its Member companies and UNODC are working together under Operation COASTLINE to strengthen the maritime supply chain’s resilience against wildlife trafficking. This initiative aims to identify suspicious shipments, share risk indicators, and promote early reporting of potential trafficking cases. By combining the efforts and knowledge of the shipping industry with law enforcement, Operation COASTLINE supports enhanced detection and disruption of transnational wildlife trafficking networks and contributes to the protection of biodiversity.
Implement a verifiable maritime certification program to prevent shipping lines and facilities from being used in illegal wildlife trafficking, through due diligence, systems and operations to identify and report suspicious shipments.

WSC and its members are committed to continue to play a key part in combating illegal wildlife trafficking through four key objectives:

Wildlife Crime - A Threat to Biodiversity

Multi-billion-dollar business and a threat to biodiversity, global biosecurity, and human health.

Ranked as the 4th most profitable trade after arms, drugs and human trafficking.
Estimated to be worth up to USD $20 billion per year of wildlife and reaching up to USD $200 billion when including illegal timber trade (Source: UNEP-INTERPOL Report: The Rise of Environmental Crime).
Much of the large-scale trade is covert, involving global, underground trade chains by organized criminal networks.
Wildlife crime is the second most significant threat to biodiversity after habitat loss/degradation (Source: WWF).
Biosecurity threat to National Security, human health and safety through disease transmission such as Covid-19, SARS, Bird Flu, Ebola.

Resources

Joint Industry Guidelines on Illegal Wildlife Trafficking

WSC Publications

Red flags for suspicious illegal wildlife trade

IMO Resources

The IMO’s Illegal Wildlife Guidelines: For the Prevention and Suppression of the Smuggling of Wildlife on Ships engaged in International Maritime Traffic

The IMO’s e-Learning Course

Other Resources

Red Flag Indicators: For Wildlife and Timber Trafficking in Containerized Sea Cargo

A Review of Shipping Companies’ Carriage Policies on International Shark Fin Trade

Working Together for Greater Impact

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are essential in the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking (IWT). By bringing together governments, law enforcement, and the private sector—including transport, financial institutions, technology providers, and NGOs—we can share intelligence, disrupt criminal networks, and bring offenders to justice.

Initiatives such as the United for Wildlife network, the Joint Industry Guidelines, Operation COASTLINE, and the Cargo Screening tool demonstrate how collaboration turns commitment into action. These partnerships build expertise, share financial intelligence, and deliver practical solutions that strengthen global supply chains and protect biodiversity.

One example is the Joint Industry Guidelines for Combatting Illegal Wildlife Trafficking, led by the World Shipping Council and supported by nine international organisations. This initiative complements the International Maritime Organization (IMO) guidelines by providing clear, actionable steps for private sector stakeholders.

Another is Operation COASTLINE, where the World Shipping Council, its members, and UNODC work together to identify suspicious wildlife shipments and enhance the resilience of maritime supply chains against organised crime. By sharing risk indicators and promoting early reporting, this initiative improves detection, disrupts trafficking networks, and safeguards biodiversity.

Did You Know?

Many shipping companies have proprietary targeting and screening tools to identify suspicious shipments so that leading to more information being requested e.g. about the nature of the goods, before vessel loading or to non-acceptance of the shipment. Additionally, WSC and its Member companies have agreed in principle to integrate the IWT screening tool developed by WWF and NCB into its Cargo Safety Program that originally was developed to screen for mis/non-declared dangerous goods.

Some regulatory issues are currently in progress before the IWT screening tool can go live to provide for an industry-wide screening tool that would ensure that shipments undergo screening according to agreed standards, complementing the individual carrier’s proprietary screening tool.

Shark Fin Trade

Shark populations continue to decline, driven by the global shark fin trade. 1/3 of shark and ray species have been overexploited to near-extinction, jeopardizing the health of entire ocean ecosystems and food security for many countries.
Approximately 400 species of sharks are found in the world. 54 shark species are protected under CITES Appendix I.
Pangolin Trade

Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world, accounting for as much as 20% of all illegal wildlife trade! Pangolins are hunted for their scales (used in traditional medicine) and meat (considered a delicacy in some countries). All 8 Pangolin species are under CITES Appendix I.
23.5 tonnes of pangolins and their parts were trafficked in 2021 alone. China and Viet Nam are the two primary consumer markets for pangolins. Pangolins are insect-eating mammals eating mainly termites and ants. Pangolins are the only mammals in the world covered in scales, made of keratin—the same material that makes fingernails and hair.
Donkey Skins Trade

Approximately 5.9 million donkeys are slaughtered for their skins annually for ejiao (eh-gee-yow), a traditional Chinese remedy. The global shipping industry plays a pivotal role in the donkey skin trade, which often converges with the illicit wildlife trade and other contraband products.
Domesticated donkeys are closely related to globally protected CITES Appendix 1 critically endangered African wild ass (Equus africanus).
Sea Cucumber Trade

Sea cucumbers are illegally trafficked for consumption purposes. They play a vital role in marine ecosystems, acting as "vacuum cleaners" of the ocean floor, recycling nutrients and maintaining water quality.
Seahorses Trade

There are over 40 different species of Seahorse with the genus Hippocampus, derived from the ancient Greek word hippókampos (híppos meaning "horse”) and kámpos meaning "sea monster”. Male Seahorses carry the baby during reproduction.
Seahorses are monogamous. Seahorses are flagship species and indicators of ecosystem health. They are heavily traded for consumption in traditional medicine. 15,772,838 - estimated total global number of imported dried seahorses. Senegal - reported the highest number of exports (98%) of dried seahorses in Africa.
Timber Trade

Illegal logging and the global timber trade is a serious, international crime, estimated to have a value of account for 15-30 %( Interpol, 2021). Rosewood species (Pterocarpus erinaceus) listed as CITES Appendix II, is estimated to have an annual trade value higher than elephant ivory, rhino horn, pangolins, shark fins, and big cat parts combined (EIA,2022).
Timber is a versatile and renewable material, critical to many industries, however, illegal logging and trade is responsible for deforestation, habitat loss, species extinction and contributes to climate change with detrimental impacts on vital eco-system functionality, whilst financing organized crime.