CBP to provide ivory detector dogs to Tanzania

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has the largest canine enforcement force in the United States and the expertise to help Tanzania start its own canine teams.    U.S. Customs and Border Protection will provide sniffer dogs and training to Tanzanian authorities to help stop the illegal smuggling of ivory, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said recently.
   Kerlikowske earlier this month became the first CBP chief in 12 years to visit Africa, where he made five stops over 10 days.
   Tanzania is trying to stamp out illegal poaching of wildlife, including elephants prized for their ivory.
   The canines will be able to detect ivory and heroin and will be stationed at the airport and seaport in Dar es Salaam, Kerlikowske said May 12 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Supply Chain Summit.
   CBP has about 1,500 canine teams able to detect drugs, agriculture products, currency, explosives and other contraband.
   The Tanzanian National Police will send four handlers to CBP’s canine training center in Front Royal, Va., where they will undergo about three months of training, the commissioner told American Shipper.
   The canine teams could be operating at Tanzanian ports of entry as early as September, he added.
   There are other cases of dogs being trained to use their senses to detect ivory, “but nothing to this extent,” the commissioner said.
   “It’s a great thing as an employer,” he joked during his speech, “because they don’t file grievances or overtime.”
   During his trip, Kerlilowske also signed a mutual assistance agreement with Senegal that will expand cooperation and information sharing to combat transnational crime and terrorist threats. Customs mutual assistance agreements provide the legal framework for exchange of information and evidence to assist countries in the enforcement of Customs laws, including duty evasion, trafficking, weapons proliferation, and money laundering.