At their Eighth Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, in October 2019 Signatory States decided to revive the IOSEA Illegal Trade Working Group . This decision was prompted by the findings of the CITES-led report “Status, scope and trends of the legal and illegal international trade in marine turtles, its conservation impacts, management options and mitigation priorities” which was prepared in cooperation with, inter alia, the IOSEA MOU and CMS. The study highlighted numerous examples of ongoing illegal activity and revealed that domestic illegal trade in marine turtles was greater in magnitude than international illegal trade. The working group updated its membership and task list intersessionally with the help of the Secretariat.

The current members of the working group are:

Chair: Asghar Mobaraki, Islamic Republic of Iran

Members:

  • IOSEA Signatory States: Australia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mozambique, Philippines, theUnited Republic of Tanzania, the United States
  • IOSEA Advisory Committee members: Dr. Colin Limpus, Dr. Jeff Miller
  • International Organizations: Inter American Sea Turtle Convention (IAC)
  • NGOs: TRAFFIC Vietnam and WWF Australia

See the current task list of the Illegal Trade Working Group.