Page 92 - SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT FOR 2020-2021

46 2020-2021 SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT
An important international convention designed to fight against these crimes, with international trade-related provisions, is the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The text of the CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975. India became a Party to CITES way back in 1976. In June 2014, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Council— consisting of 180 Members— adopted the “WCO Declaration on the Illegal Wildlife Trade”.
Since its outbreak, conversations around the COVID-19 pandemic’s interlinkages with illegal wildlife trade have spotlighted the devastating impacts this trade can have on human health and economies. It is reported that Zoonotic diseases represent up to 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases.
The data on seizures of wildlife products based on regional and national reports show a relative decline in illegal wildlife trade activities in Southeast Asia in 2020, with operations down by more than 50% across the most-traded animals. In 2020, the effects of COVID-19 and
related
travel restrictions, and trade suspensions caused a steep decline in reported seizures compared to 2019, states the USAID counter wildlife trafficking digest, 2021. The illicit trade in wildlife products now also have a significant online presence and that in itself poses a significant challenge for the enforcement agencies engaged in countering this activity.
national
lockdowns,