Singapore liner company Swire Shipping has announced a ban on the carriage of donkey skins, a policy said to be based on ethical and environmental grounds.
The policy was announced on May 8, World Donkey Day, and follows a decision by the 37th African Union Summit early last year for a moratorium on the slaughter of donkeys for their skins.
The agreement was said to have been made in recognition of animal welfare concerns and the important role donkeys play in supporting communities and economies across Africa.
Chief executive of The Donkey Sanctuary charity, Marianne Steele, said the inhumane and unsustainable trade in donkey skins “acts as a trojan horse for illegal wildlife trafficking and organised crime and poses a serious threat to global biosecurity”.
“Swire Shipping and other leaders in the transport sector should be commended for their decisive action and we call on other cargo operators, both in shipping and aviation, to join the fight to protect the world’s donkeys,” Ms Steele said.
“In doing so they will also help prevent the trafficking of other threatened species.”
Swire Shipping chief sustainability and energy transition officer, Susana Germino, said they were proud to support the work of The Donkey Sanctuary by including a donkey skin ban in their updated Responsible Cargo Carriage Policy.
“This decision underscores our unwavering commitment to sustainability and ensures that our operations do not contribute to any trade that is illegal or threatens the survival of donkeys, whether wild or domesticated,” Ms Germino said.
According to The Donkey Sanctuary, container shipping is the main method used for the smuggling of large quantities of wildlife products, due to cost effectiveness, the ability to ship large volumes and heavier weights with low detection rates.
Swire Shipping, a leading shipping company in the Asia Pacific, is the wholly owned, deep-sea ship owning and operating arm of the multinational Swire Group.
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