Friday 18 July 2014

Call for trade embargo against Mozambique for failure to address poaching issues

Two international environmental organizations have called on the US government to implement trade sanctions against Mozambique for its official complicity in the ongoing rampant slaughter of elephants and rhinos by Mozambican nationals not only within Mozambique but also in South Africa and Tanzania.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) filed the petition under the Pelly amendment – which authorizes the US to impose sanctions on any country that contravenes an international conservation agreement, in this case various CITES agreements.

Since 2010, Mozambican poachers have been involved in the the deaths of almost 1 900 rhinos in South Africa, as well as tens of thousands of elephants poached for their ivory in Mozambique and Tanzania. At the CITES meeting in March 2013, Mozambique was singled out for their lack of action to tackle poaching – and has narrowly avoided CITES backed sanctions by passing (but failing to implement) improved wildlife legislation.

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