Measures at Checkpoints to Deter Wildlife Trafficking

3 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for National Development (a) what measures are in place at our border checkpoints to deter wildlife trafficking; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider establishing a wildlife sniffer dog programme to detect cases of wildlife trafficking at our border checkpoints.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for National Development): Sir, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) works closely with Singapore Customs, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and local and international partners to combat wildlife trafficking.

First, we subject all passengers and cargoes as well as shipments to risk assessment. Our risk assessment framework helps agencies flag out which passengers and shipments require more detailed checks. Agencies ensure that these risk profiles and indicators are up to date by continually reviewing wildlife trafficking trends and exchanging information with international partners like the International Criminal Police Organization and the World Customs Organisation.

Second, agencies carry out multiple layers of checks at Singapore's border checkpoints. For example, radiographic scanners and x-rays are used to screen passengers and cargo. The officers performing these tasks are trained to pick out suspicious items and behaviours.

Third, agencies adopt a coordinated enforcement approach. This enables them to take quick action after receiving credible and actionable intelligence or tip-offs from the public and from our international partners.

Taken together, these measures have led to several successful seizures of illegal wildlife in Singapore. Traffickers face heavy penalties like fines of up to $500,000, or imprisonment of up to two years, or both.

AVA is continually studying the efficacy of different tools and techniques to detect illegal wildlife at our border checkpoints. To the Member's specific question about sniffer dogs, we understand that they are used in some countries to detect wildlife products. In Singapore, we use other effective scanning technologies for this purpose. More studies are needed to determine if sniffer dogs can be more effective than our current methods.

Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. The issue really is that the officers who are scanning the bags have so much to look out for that it is really difficult for them to also look out for wildlife products. I hope that the Ministry of National Development would seriously consider the proposal to set up a wildlife sniffer dog programme.

Secondly, the sniffer dogs are already deployed in our fight against drugs, so why not also use them in our fight against wildlife trafficking?

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Sir, as I said earlier in my answer, we employ a multi-pronged approach and not just depend on one modality. It starts with good intelligence and then employing technology and techniques that have been proven to work in many other cases. So, we will continue to look at options, including sniffer dogs, if there can be objective data to show that they are more effective than our currently deployed methods.