H.M. Revenue and Customs cooperates with other agencies in detecting the illegal transboundary movement of dangerous waste products and uses its unique position at ports and airports to identify illegal imports and exports of CITES-listed plants and animals, cholorflorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone depleting substances (ODS). To comply with the legal requirements set by each State under CITES, importers and exporters - whether they are tourists or business people - need to present the appropriate CITES permit or declaration to customs. In the United Kingdom those who violate CITES risk up to seven years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. In 1997, the European Union imposed even stricter regulations on protected species, monitoring trade levels on some species which, at the time, were not even covered by CITES such as many species of seahorse. [Seahorses were added as CITES-listed species in 2002.]
H.M. Revenue and Customs has a network of specialist officers called Customs Wildlife and Endangered Species officers. It also has a specialist Customs CITES team, based at Heathrow Airport and believed to be the only one in Europe. They use sophisticated computer software to help them identify accurately the animals and plants they are dealing with and whether these are covered by CITES regulations.
For more information, see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/