Vietnam National

Model ASEAN Meeting 2018

ASEAN DOCUMENT FOR SENIOR OFFICIALS MEETING OF ASEAN

ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (AEC) PILLAR

Member Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -

Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao
People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar,
the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of
Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, hereinafter referred to as "the
Parties"

REAFFIRMING our commitment to build an ASEAN Community by 2015,

comprising three pillars, namely the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the
ASEAN Economic Community, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community that
are closely intertwined and mutually reinforcing;

REALIZING that ASEAN integration and the emergence of an ASEAN

Economic Community by 2015 will increase peace, stability, and prosperity for
ASEAN and its people;

ACKNOWLEDGING that the inadvertent or purposeful introduction of illicitly

trafficked and illegally traded wildlife and wildlife products poses serious risks to
the health and safety of human, plant, and animal populations due to the spread of
pathogens and non-native invasive species, threatening economic development and
prosperity;

PROMOTING a more responsive ASEAN by strengthening governance through

greater transparency in the public sector and in engaging with the private sector

ENHANCING engagement with the private sector as well as other stakeholders to

improve the transparency and synergies of government policies and business
actions across industries and sectors in the ASEAN region. .

RECALLING the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry Statement on

"ASEAN and International Year of Forests 2011" in October 2011 recognizing the
achievements and continuing efforts in addressing threats and challenges faced by
the forestry sector in the region, such as through enhancing efforts in addressing
international trade of endangered species and wildlife enforcement;

PROMOTING strategic partnerships among the academia, research institutions

and the private sector towards developing capabilities and creating an effective
channel for technology transfer and commercialisation;

FURTHER NOTING the role of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity in its
function as an effective regional centre of excellence in promoting biodiversity
conservation and management, and regional initiatives such as the Heart of
Borneo, Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security,
ASEAN Heritage Parks, and Greater Mekong Sub-Region in protecting and
enhancing conservation of the region's biodiversity.

List of proposed solutions:

1. We encourage Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to collaborate and raise fund

together in order to deal with the issue. This fund may be used to support non-
profit organization working in this theme, private companies and national security
to put efforts into shutting down illegal wildlife markets and stepping up their fight
against the trafficking of wildlife products.

2. We suggest raising voluntary funds to carry research and experiment to the

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) in order to update the databases of the protected wildlife flora and fauna.
This research is used to create new plans for dealing with the illegal wildlife trade
and also helps WWF and TRAFFIC promote the inclusion of new species in the
CITES appendices or resolutions.

3. We urge ASEAN Member States to increase commitments in terms of funding

for the development of science and technologies that will help in detecting prone-
to-extinction species and rescuing the seized animals.

4. We should implement effectively every single international convention ASEAN

that has signed such as CITES, UNTOC, United Nations Convention against
Corruption (UNCAC) and ASEAN Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on Criminal
Matters (MLAT), therefore formulate economically regional tourism policies like
the suggestion of making a NIAP from the CITES Secretariat to encourage
economic actions of ASEAN’s member parties.
5. We suggest cooperating with technology companies such as: Google, Microsoft,
Facebook, Amazon, Ebay in a urgent, efficient way to create firewalls stopping
inquiries or supplying about wildlife.
6. We should provide preferential treatments to businesses whose works are to
make those non-wildlife alternatives become more appealing
a. Offering lower taxes, providing them with necessary resources and
considerable amount of subsidy
b. Accompanied by the harsh penalties and fines for companies and
individuals whose businesses have anything to do with illegal wildlife trade.
7. We encourage to develop tourism in border areas in order to not only guarantee
better livelihoods for local citizens but also create stronger willingness to protect
wild animals - their sustainable source of income.
8. We call out all ASEAN nations to join hands to set up a common fund which
provides money to support the development of sustainable livelihoods for
communities affected by the illegal wildlife trade by providing food, jobs, better
wildlife education and health support.
9. We should focus on commitment meeting encouraging government, bank
accounting firms, security agencies to make greater use of financial tools to tackle
organized crime engaging illegal wildlife trade
10. We recommend that countries involve in the legal trade, particularly exporting
countries, which are tend to be developing ones, keep fighting illegal trade
problems with strict regulations to make sustainable profits and vital export
earnings from natural resources
11. We should accentuate the importance to establish ASEAN-wide environmental
impact monitoring framework to prevent events of environmental harms that might
affect communities which are supported by research and academic expertise which
will be involved in concerted cooperative work.
12. We encourage Government and authorities to have a more severe fine for the
violation activities. Raise the tariffs for trading wildlife animals which are under
the supervisor of the Government.
13. To develop the ever-growing ecotourism in the fight of illegal wildlife
trafficking, we believe the awareness of local people, the effective protecting
group, should be enhanced in terms of current circumstances and possible
resolutions. Ensuring their coordination with government and community
participation in forest management decisions, the allocation of regular funding on
the security, infrastructural facilities, and the marketing plan for the ecotourism-
inclined sanctuaries and national forests not only establishes the job flow but also
curb the illegal trafficking.
14. We should impose the official tariff on the border-cross trade of endangered
species inter-regionally.
15. We should urge regional countries, donors, organizations to provide sufficient
financial and technical support. Hence, Conservation fund models and capacity-
building events for parliament through training, and networking workshops should
be developed, be it the sharing of intelligence experience or the establishment of
inter-agency committees.
16. We propose that scientific research, trade monitoring, wild population
assessment should be accurately kept in check to ensure the protection of wild
population.
17. We should urge all countries members to share the information to each other
about the status of the illegal wildlife trade, link together to develop good’s control
across borders.