To stop its fleet of dry bulk carriers from being used by wildlife traffickers, Apeejay Shipping has signed the Buckingham Palace Declaration, which commits signatories to support efforts to prevent trade in illegal wildlife, wildlife parts and products.
The commitment, signed yesterday, includes notifying relevant law enforcement authorities of cargoes suspected of containing illegal wildlife and their products and, wherever possible, refuse to accept or ship such cargoes.
Company chairman Karan Paul said illegal wildlife trade was a direct threat to species and went against the stability and diversity of the biosphere.
"Apeejay Shipping, as a major sea transportation service provider, commits its fleet and our people to being vigilant and to use our information networks globally to break the supply chain of illegal commercial trade in wildlife, wildlife parts and products," Paul said.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UK last November, India and the UK had resolved to work together to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
The Buckingham Palace Declaration, a United for Wildlife initiative led by the Duke, has created a global coalition to prevent traffickers from exploiting weaknesses as they seek to covertly move their products from killing fields to marketplaces.
Released at a signing ceremony on March 15 at the Buckingham Palace, over 40 CEOs, chairmen and leaders of airlines, shipping firms, port operators, customs agencies, inter-governmental organisations and conservation charities from around the world have signed the declaration.
The declaration has been hailed by The Duke of Cambridge as "a game changer in the race against extinction".
The declaration commits signatories to 11 commitments that will raise standards across the transportation industry and to support efforts to prevent the growing trade in illegal wildlife and its products around the world.
The commitments focus on information sharing, staff training, technological improvements, and resource sharing across companies and organisations worldwide as it takes steps to remove the vulnerabilities in transportation and customs to tackle the criminals currently exploiting them.
