Rosewood is a restricted item listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (“CITES”). Singapore is a signatory to CITES
Under the Endangered (Import and Export) Species Act, a shipment of endangered wood (like rosewood logs) is considered to be in transit if it is “brought into Singapore solely for the purpose of taking it out of Singapore” and is kept under the control of the AVA director-general or an authorised officer.
The High Court has reversed a decision by the District Court to acquit a managing director and his firm in October 2015 for importing more than 29,000 endangered rosewood logs worth US$50 million (S$70 million). The Straits Times reported as follows:
Second Solicitor-General Kwek Mean Luck argued that the district judge was wrong to conclude that the logs were brought into Singapore solely for the purpose of being taken out. He noted that the only consignee named on shipping documents was Kong Hoo and that the defendants could not give details of any buyers in Hong Kong.
Mr Kwek also argued that the trial judge had wrongly interpreted “control” under the Act. The logs were not under the physical or legal control of the authorities, he said.
The defence lawyers, Mr K. Muralidharan Pillai, Mr Paul Tan and Mr Choo Zheng Xi, noted the boss of a logistics firm had testified that it was hired by Kong Hoo to pack the wood into containers for shipment to Hong Kong.
Yesterday, JC See said the evidence was inconclusive and found the trial judge’s interpretation was wrong. Mr Wong Siew Hong, representing Madagascar’s government, was in court on a watching brief.
Stay tuned for more updates to this case!
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