The Lusaka Agreement on Co-operative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora was the brain-child of Wildlife Law Enforcement Officers from eight Eastern and Southern African countries meeting in Lusaka, Zambia in December 1992, under the auspices of Zambia’s Ministry of Tourism. This was followed up with working group meetings involving CITES, Interpol and US Fish & Wildlife Service special agents, as well as London University lawyers of the Foundation for International Environment Law Development (FIELD). The development of this African initiative a year later led to formal inter-governmental negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This led to the adoption of the Lusaka Agreement on Co-operative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora on 8th September 1994, with UN Secretary General, New York the Depositary.
The Agreement came into force on 10th December 1996 with the ratification, or formal acceptance, by four signatories. Currently, there are six Parties to the Agreement: The Republics of Congo (Brazzaville), Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and the Kingdom of Lesotho. Republics of South Africa, Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Swaziland are signatories.
The Agreement provides for setting up of a permanent Task Force that would implement its objectives. Consequently, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (Task Force) was launched on 1st June 1999, with its headquarters located in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Lusaka Agreement establishes a three-tier institutional mechanism:
Governing Council:
A Policy and decision making organ comprising a Minister or alternate from each Party State that oversees the Task Force operations.
Task Force:
A permanent law enforcement institution established to facilitate co-operative activities among the National Bureaus in carrying out investigations pertaining to illegal trade in wild fauna and flora. It comprises seconded law enforcement officers from Party States and locally recruited support staff.
National Bureau:
An established or designated governmental entity to co-ordinate with the Task Force on investigation and co-operative activities pertaining to illegal trade in wild fauna and flora. The National Bureaus to the Agreement are the Bureau National de l’Accord de Lusaka (BNAL, Congo), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Tanzania Wildlife Division (TWD), Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA). The Kingdom of Lesotho have yet to designate a National Bureau but in the meantime the National Environment Secretariat is handling matters pertaining to the Agreement.
The institutional linkages between the three tier institutions of the Lusaka Agreement are presented in Document attached.
The Lusaka Agreement Task Force
Vision Statement
A Task Force that is outstanding in reducing and ultimately eliminating illegal trade in wild fauna and flora in Africa.
Mission Statement
To support the member states and collaborating partners in reducing and ultimately eliminating illegal trade in wild fauna and flora through:
• facilitation of cooperative activities in undertaking law enforcement operations,
• investigations on violations of national wildlife laws,
• dissemination and exchange of information on illegal trade activities, and
• capacity building including promotion of awareness.
Functions
(a) To facilitate cooperative activities among the National Bureaus in carrying out investigations pertaining to illegal trade;
(b) to investigate violations of national laws pertaining to illegal trade, at the request of the National Bureaus or with the consent of the Parties concerned, and to present to them evidence gathered during such investigations;
(c) to collect, process and disseminate information on activities that pertain to illegal trade, including establishing and maintaining databases;
(d) to provide, upon request of the Parties concerned, available information related to the return to the country of original export, or country of re-export, of confiscated wild fauna and flora;
(e) To perform such other functions as may be determined by the Governing Council.
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