Ivory cargo weighing 310kg confiscated at Hamad airport

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), in collaboration with the General Authority of Customs (GAC), has confiscated a cargo of ivory weighing around 310kg at Hamad International Airport.The operation is part of co-operation and co-ordination between various executive authorities in the country, including the MME and GAC, according to a press statement.The cargo was coming from an African nation and its final destination was an Asian country, and was detected while transiting through Doha. After the GAC detected the cargo, the MME's Executive Department dealing with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was immediately informed about the matter. The department later confirmed that the cargo was covered by relevant articles of CITES. Also, Law 5 for 2006 regarding the regulation of trade in endangered species and fauna bans trading in them and related listed specimens or allowing them for transit, cargo or re-export without a prior permit from the law enforcement authority concerned, the statement notes. Mohamed Mubarak al-Marri, head of the MME's wildlife section, said a detailed report on the cargo would be prepared and the general secretariat of CITES in Geneva, Switzerland, would be informed accordingly, to take the necessary action in accordance with the law. CITES was signed in Washington on March 3, 1973 and went into force in 1975. Qatar joined the agreement with decree No 19 for 2001. In 2006, Qatar issued Law No 5, which regulates trade in endangered species and fauna. Besides, the department concerned at the MME has allocated the hotline, 0097644264448, to receive inquiries about the issue from any country during normal working hours.