Animal protection authorities seized 149 ivory and sea turtle products worth NT$600,000 (US$18,126) in Taipei on Friday, prompting officials to urge the public to stop buying ivory products.
The police and Taipei City Animal Protection Office raided an antique shop in downtown Taipei and confiscated 142 ivory items and seven hawksbill sea turtle products, leading to the shops’ owners being charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法).
Confiscated ivory products included animal figurines and other decorative objects, spoons and tusks, with products on sale from NT$500 to NT$128,000.
The owners may be sentenced to prison terms of between six months and five years and fined a maximum of NT$1.5 million for the unauthorized trading and display of products derived from protected species, the office said.
Taiwan allows a limited trade in ivory products.
The Wildlife Conservation Act stipulates that ivory products imported into the nation before 1995 can be registered and legally traded, while non-commercial imports and exports of legally certified ivory are allowed. Most registered ivory products are name stamps or cultural artifacts, the office said.
The case comes after 422 ivory products worth more than NT$10 million were seized from a Tainan-based couple last month. The couple are alleged to have purchased the items online and smuggled them into Taiwan.
Elephant populations around the world are in rapid decline due to the actions of poachers, the office said, calling on the public to eschew buying ivory products.
In related news, in May Taiwan and the US are to jointly hold a training program to improve the skills of wildlife law enforcement officials fighting the trade in illegal wildlife, Forestry Bureau conservation division director Kuan Li-hao (管立豪) said.
The illegal trade in wildlife, estimated to be worth between US$10 billion and US$20 billion globally per year, is the third-largest illegal business behind drugs and weapons, Kuan said.
Taiwan’s role in the illegal wildlife trade is mainly as an intermediate destination for illegal products to be shipped to China, he said, referencing a case in November last year in which pangolin and ivory were shipped to Taiwan from Africa, falsely declared as fish heads, and later transported to Vietnam, ending up China.
Police officers and members of the coast guard and the Investigation Bureau are to participate in the program to strengthen law enforcement and inspections on the illegal trade, he said.
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