SIBERIAN TERRITORY MUST BE STRONGLY PROTECTED

Importante réunion, la semaine dernière, pour lutter plus efficacement contre le trafic massif à destination de la Chine, de la Mongolie et du Kazakstan (nombreux léopards des neiges vendus en pièces détachées). Source: WWF Russia, ce jour.

For the Siberian Federal District - a region with rich flora and fauna - the problem of smuggling of animals and plants are extremely relevant.  Some actors in the region bordering on China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, the customs regime of the last of which was due to the weakening of the Customs Union of Russia with Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The specificity of this contraband requires high professionalism of the Federal Customs Service - the only law enforcement agency in Russia, has capabilities to combat smuggling of rare and endangered species of wild animals and plants and their derivatives.   Customs officers should have expertise in biology, juridiction, and operational skills for effective detection and identification of similar illegal objects.  Seminar for customs officials, organized by WWF in partnership with   "Sibecocenter" and the Siberian Customs Department was designed to not only improve their knowledge in the field, but also create conditions for the interoperability of customs service with conservation organizations. This practice has established itself in Russia's Far East, allowing you to quickly bring in specialists to help operatives, to receive advice, knowledge and exchange information.

Teaching at a seminar held 15 of the staff of the Siberian Customs Administration of the Siberian and East Siberian operational customs, eight customs of the Siberian federal district, including employees of the department of customs and export control restrictions, customs clearance and customs control, special customs procedures, product range and trade restrictions and departments to combat the smuggling of particularly hazardous. How to detect contraband items such non-standard, where the perpetrators organize caches as camouflage and fight off the smell, protecting them from finding his dog - a search engine as fake documents - these and other questions were answered such legendary specialists like Sergei Lyapustin, Head of Training Customs Resource Center to ensure conservation of Vladivostok branch of RCA.

The lecturers are the best experts: Svetlana Senotrusova (Russian Customs Academy (RCA)) - the author of many research and teaching materials for customs officials, Alexei Vaisman, head of TRAFFIC Russia, Mikhail Paltsyn, project coordinator of the Altai-Sayan Branch of WWF, Elvira Nikolenko, an expert on rare species of birds of prey and Ilya Smelyansky, an expert on the biodiversity of the steppes of Russia (Sibecocenter).

Despite the fact that according to official data of the Siberian Customs detentions smuggling of animals and their derivatives, as well as their legal cases are moving across the border in Siberia - the unit, the study by WWF and Sibecocenter argue that within the region is a large-scale illegal mining species, focused exclusively the foreign market. According to Elvira Nikolenko, head of   "Sibecocenter" in Altai - Sayan ecoregion smuggling wildlife is a so-called latent (hidden) character.

Contraband for various reasons do not reveal, and at checkpoints, movement of animals and their derivatives are actively involved in circumvention of customs control points - in the neighboring regions.  In particular it helps to open in 2010, the border with Kazakhstan and weak control over the vast territory of the Russian border with Mongolia and China.