Since the beginning of the year, the Mazovian National Revenue Administration has seized nearly 400 fragments of protected animals and plants. Most of the items banned from being transported across borders were found in postal items, but some were also brought by travelers as unusual souvenirs from their travels.
KAS reminds that the import and export of specimens of animals and plants protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is prohibited, unless the person transporting them has the appropriate CITES permits or certificates.
Coral skeletons, snail shells and feathers
The largest number of prohibited CITES goods were found by Customs and Fiscal Service officers from the Mazovian Customs and Fiscal Office in Warsaw in shipments, although there are still cases of specimens in travelers' luggage. “As souvenirs from their vacations, tourists brought back a dozen or so fragments of reef-building coral skeletons. The record was broken by a Polish woman returning from Mauritius, who had as much as 1.55 kg of these specimens in her luggage,” KAS calculates.
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The luggage of a traveller arriving from the Dominican Republic contained four giant conch shells. The largest of the shells was 31 centimetres long. In turn, a shell of a beautiful nautilus, a rare marine cephalopod, was found in the hand luggage of a woman returning from Indonesia. The tourist explained that she had bought the shell in a souvenir shop on a beach on the Indian Ocean.
There are also cases like those from July. SCS officers checked a man at Chopin Airport who had flown from Mexico. He had luggage full of CITES specimens, including feathers belonging to parrots of various species of macaws, a peacock turkey, a royal pheasant and a peacock, prepared wings of a predatory bird from the order of accipitriformes, various fragments of exotic skins belonging to pythons, caimans and lizards.The traveler explained that the items brought will be used to decorate the costume for the performances, which are to bring Mexican and Aztec culture closer to Poles.. He did not know that transporting such items without appropriate permits is prohibited,” the statement reads.
Bear Bile and Cactus Seedlings
The specimens in the form of powdered bear bile were found by SCS officers in the luggage of a traveler arriving from China. She explained that she had bought 60 vials of bear bile from a Chinese pharmacy and brought it as a traditional Chinese medicine for a friend with liver disease.
Items seized by KASKAS
SCS officers from the Mazovian KAS regularly check postal and courier parcels. The contents of the parcels still surprise them. “Three parcels from Thailand contained teddy bears, inside which were hidden 57 cactus seedlings – CITES specimens. It was similar in the case of parcels from Malaysia and the USA. Instead of T-shirts, 17 pitcher plant seedlings arrived in Poland from Asia. Nepenthes are beautiful, carnivorous plants. Instead of the declared dietary food, the parcel from the USA contained 96 terrestrial orchid seedlings,” they further listed.
Items seized by KASKAS
Some of the plants were saved and can now be admired in the Botanical Garden of the University of Warsaw.
Protected Crocodile Skin Hat
“In the shipment from Australia, officers found a hat with a band made of the skin of a protected saltwater crocodile decorated with 15 crocodile teeth, and in the package posted in the USA, a prepared head of a Mississippi alligator,” we read further.
Items seized by KASKAS
KAS explains that the Washington Convention (CITES) regulates international trade in endangered species of wild animals and plants. Its purpose is to protect animals and plants and to limit international trade – both in live specimens and their parts and products made from them.
Items seized by KASKAS
Some species of animals and plants are particularly vulnerable to extinction. To protect them and prevent them from being over-extracted from the environment for market purposes, their movement across borders is monitored and regulated by international law. Currently, 184 states, i.e. almost all countries of the world, are parties to the Convention.
“Import from third countries to the territory of the European Union or export from the European Union of CITES specimens is possible on the basis of previously issued permits and certificates. The lack of such documents results in the seizure of CITES specimens and is punishable by imprisonment from 3 months to 5 years” – KAS reserves.
They are trying to outsmart the services
Why do such cases still occur? As customs officers explain, most travelers transporting specimens use ignorance of the regulations as an excuse, but this does not exempt them from liability. Shippers of shipments with protected species of animals and plants often declare other goods, which means that they know the regulations and know that smuggling protected species is prohibited.
“To avoid unpleasant surprises, it is worth getting to know both Polish customs law and the regulations in the country you are traveling to. But the most important thing is to remember that by protecting plants and animals from extinction, we ensure that future generations will be able to see them live, and not just in photographs,” advises KAS.
Main image source: KAS