As a source country, transit point, and final destination for animal products, Vietnam is a central actor in the global fight against wildlife trafficking. But for years, the CITES Secretariat has reprimanded Vietnam for not doing enough to combat and dismantle criminal wildlife trade networks that poach and trade wildlife, a major threat to biodiversity and endangered species. At the last CITES Conference of the Parties (COP) in late 2022, Vietnam was asked to strengthen enforcement measures, share evidence and DNA samples from its seized rhino horns with other parties, and improve legal frameworks. In its most recent report submitted to the secretariat in November 2023, Vietnam listed 15 cases of rhino horns seized from 2022 to October 2023. Of these, seven mention Angola as the country of origin, while five don't mention any country. The report also declared there were no seizures in rhino horns originating from South Africa. "Therefore, no exchange of samples happened," it said. In a document dated Jan. 16, however, the CITES Secretariat expressed concern over incomplete information. "The Secretariat indicated to Viet Nam that the majority of rhinoceros horns found in illegal trade originate from South Africa because it has the largest rhinoceros population in the world," the document said, adding these horns are often exported from other African countries by criminal networks to avoid detection. In its report, the CITES Secretariat said it "encouraged" Vietnam to share samples from its seizures with the South African Rhino DNA Indexing System (RhODIS), a database containing thousands of DNA profiles from rhinos across African rhino range countries.