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Campaign to curb illegal trade of ivory, rare products

Their trade is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to which UAE is a signatory.

Under an inspection drive, the municipal inspectors confiscated some costly ivory prayer beads and expensive shawls made of wools of protected animals .

The confiscated Shatoosh shawls are made from the wool of endangered Tibetan antelope. The total cost of the three shawls was estimated at nearly Dh25,000 while the two dozen prayer beads cost around Dh65,000.

Dubai Municipality maintains a strict monitoring in the local market in order to effectively enforce the CITES through inspection of shops selling rare items as well as pet shops.

Salim Mesmar, Director of Public Health Department at the municipality, said, “Pet shops should be properly licensed. Furthermore, the shop-owners have been asked to fill up a CITES Inspection Card prepared by the DM’s veterinary services section.”

He noted that these measures would help the section keep track of all types of pet animals and birds being sold in the local market, as well as their source of origin and ports of entry.

“Roughly 5,000 species of animals and 30,000 species of plants are protected by the convention against over-exploitation through international trade. Although it is difficult to identify all the banned species, the CITES Inspection Card will make the inspectors’ job easier in detecting whether any of these species are sold in the local market,” Mesmar said.

The section, in cooperation with other authorities such as the Department of Ports and Customs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, has confiscated over 300 illegal products over the past three years.

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