Ministers and high-level representatives from the Czech Republic, Mozambique, South Africa and Viet Nam, together with observers from the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, China and the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), convened in Geneva, Switzerland, on 14 February 2015 at the CITES Ministerial Dialogue for key States concerned with the illegal trade in rhinoceros horn to try to focus on how to enhance international collaboration to combat these serious crimes.

The commitment of range, transit and destination States to work together across the illegal trade chain to combat rhinoceros poaching and illegal trade in rhinoceros horn was emphasized by the adoption of a Ministerial Statement. The ‘Geneva Statement on Combating Rhinoceros-related Crimes’  which reaffirms the commitment of the four key States to take action to prevent, combat and eradicate rhinoceros poaching and the illegal trade in rhinoceros horn by further enhancing their international cooperation and coordinated law enforcement responses