My name is Anton Huitema and I am an International Wildlife Trafficking (IWT), International Timber Trafficking (ITT) and CITES expert. I was a Customs Officer in Port of Rotterdam for nearly 40 years (1979-2018). The last 25 years (as of 1994) I was dealing with CITES and Timber imports via the Port of Rotterdam. My task was to assist and guide colleagues from all processes in the Custom Services in the Port of Rotterdam. One of my main duties was the identification of species in the relation to CITES and getting cases to prosecution.

From January 2019 until December 2023, I was working as a CITES, IWT and ITT expert in the Container Control Programme (CCP) of the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) and the WCO (World Customs Organization). In the CCP, I mainly trained and coached law enforcement officers (Customs, Police, Wildlife Rangers and Forestry Officers) in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.

As an independent consultant I will concentrate on the same. But I will try to concentrate more on Forestry Officers and prevention. In my opinion, law enforcement regarding IWT and ITT should be more pro-active and not only reactive.

What I do and how I can help:

• Training and Workshops:
  A complete training consists of a theoretical and a practical part.
  The theoretical part is mainly about Supply Chain security, Risk management and risk indicators, documents used in international transport (and document fraud), CITES, Smuggling methods (modus operandi), species identification, preparing of a physical inspection and Safety aspects, securing a crime scene and evidence collection.
  During a practical training I always try to get in a real (container) situation. All aspects from the theoretical training will be practiced in a real situation.
  Sometimes it is not possible to go to a real transport situation (truck, container, etc.), simply because it is not always available. That’s why I’m developing a “virtual reality” training, to make every workshop as practical as possible.
• Guidance, coaching and support:
  I can offer real time guidance and coaching in actual cases and questions. This can be done online or on-site. Online, I can help with the risk assessment of a shipment and on-site I can guide officers during the species identification, physical inspections, securing a crime scene and evidence collection (sampling timber shipment), and the forensic possibilities.
• Private sector:
  These services can be delivered to law enforcement agencies, but also to the private sector for supply chain security. For the private sector (banks, shipping lines and agencies, (timber) importers, etc.) due diligence and protection of reputation are getting more important, for example in relation to CITES, FLEGT and EUTR/EUDR.

Risk assessment, intelligence and risk indicators in general and specific for IWT and ITT.
There are many training courses offered regarding IWT and ITT. Most of them are concentrating on species identification. Of course, species identification is very important. But it is not the first issue. The first question to be answered is which shipment to select. Annually there are more than 800 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) shipped around the world. To identify high risk shipments is at the beginning the most important issue. During my workshops and a lot of time will be spent for this issue. How to use risk indicators (for example on transport documents) and to profile and select high risk shipments.

Of course, this is very important for law-enforcement agencies. But also for the private sector becomes this more important every day. Think of due diligence for example, very important for timber importers in relation of international regulations like Lacey Act in the USA, the EUTR/EUDR for Europe or the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act in Australia.
Currently there are some initiatives to create automated systems for risk assessment in relation to timber and forest products.

An example is Arbor Harbor of the United States Forest Service (USFS).
Arbor Harbor is a reference system linking information on trees and their global trade, especially species at risk of over harvesting. The system integrates data on taxonomy, conservation, geography, and trade regulations, all acquired from online databases or primary literature. Intended users include professionals or enthusiasts working with forest resources and their sustainable use.

I regularly work with the Arbor Harbor team, which means that this can also be included in training or guidance.

CITES is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade. It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975. Its aim is to ensure that international trade (import/export) in specimens of animals and plants included under CITES does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild. This is achieved via a system of permits and certificates. CITES affords varying degrees of protection to more than 38,000 species. The species covered by CITES are listed in three appendices, according to the degree of protection they need:

• Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
• Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction but in which trade must be controlled to avoid use detrimental to their survival (known as “vulnerable species”).
• Appendix III contains species that are protected by at least one CITES party, which has asked other CITES parties for assistance in controlling trade in that species.

During the workshops I will concentrate in “How CITES works”, CITES documents and document fraud, smuggling methods and concealment techniques and species identification.

Of course, species identification is an important aspect. It’s impossible to detain every shipment for a certain amount of time to identify species. So, the front line officer needs to have a basic knowledge about the identification of the most important species in trade. Both Wildlife species (plants and animals) and also wood species identification will be on the agenda of the training. Species identification itself, but also (for example) the differences between “artificially propagated” (for plants) or “bred in captivity” (for animals) versus “collected from the wild”. After more than 30 years of experience in the field, I know the problems of a front line officer and their needs.

Wood species identification is a complex issue. But, at the end of the training, a front line officer will (at least) be able to tell whether the species in the shipment is (are) the same as declared in the documents.

This training will be as practical as possible because I believe that participants learn the most by doing it themselves. Furthermore, I will advise (and supply if wanted) tools that are helpful for wood species identification.

I work very closely together with John Hermanson, the Co-Executive Director for the Center for Environmental Forensic Science and a Research Scientist in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. He is the creator of the ArborTron (XyloTron), a very user-friendly field tool for wood species identification by a front line officer.

In this section you will find descriptions of many types of wood. Not only how they can be identified, but also details regarding legal restrictions, risk indicators and known smuggling methods.
This chapter is a growing one, I will elaborate and add a few species every week.

Anton Huitema, Consultant
anton AT antonhuitemaconsultancy.com
+31 6 37406071
KvK 000058980474
BTW nr NL005021034B60