Banned marine products confiscated from tourist shops

The Ministry of the Environment has confiscated more than 200 craft items, including some made from hawksbill and sea turtles. The seizures were made from tourist shops in Sosua and Cabarete

This confiscation of marine products was supported by the Public Prosecutor for the Environment in Puerto Plata, Jesus Maria Suero, biodiversity technicians and the National Environmental Protection (SENPA) in Santo Domingo. The Environment Ministry officials seized 231 articles from 41 commercial establishments on Tuesday morning. The items impounded include; necklaces, earrings, rings, four turtle shells, 194 starfish, and two green iguanas . 

The provincial director of the Environment, Mr. Carlos Heriberto Finke Herrera said that these operations will continue in other places on the North Coast, because,  "we must seize these items made with materials of hawksbill and sea turtles."

Finke Herrera noted that these actions are carried out by the Ministry of Environment under Article 167, paragraph 3, of Law 64-00, in compliance with the commitments of the DR-CAFTA and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Fauna and Flora (CITES). He explained that the hawksbill turtle is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), a convention that the country signed in 1982 and ratified on March 17, 1987.

1 related news articles

Turtle shell jewelry seized in raids on tourist gift shops: Sep 4 2010

Share this article

Digg it!

del.icio.us

MySpace

Facebook

Fark

Reddit

Newsvine