DRAFT
LETTER
TO MR MING-CHI AU, MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION LTD, HONG KONG
HK AND KOWLOON IVORY
Thank you for your letter of 16 June, to the Prime Minister about
the recently introduced ban on the import of ivory into the
European Community. I have been asked to reply,
The Government does appreciate the difficult position in which
you and other legal traders in ivory now find yourselves
result Of the
products,
ivory
It
growing pressure to ban all trade in
We are aware that many traders comply strictly with
the CITES controls and only deal in legally obtained ivory,
is, however, as I am sure you know, extremely difficult to
legally ootained ivory once it has been worked from
legal ivory and illegal ivory can enter trade through this
loophole. Furthermore, it is clear that existing controls under
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), including the quota system, have
distinguish
the
not been sufficient to halt a severe decline in the population of
the African elephant; I understand that during the
years, numbers have decreased by 45%.
past ten
The
Government have become increasingly concerned about the
plight of the elephant and now believe that stronger Measures are
vital to conserve the species Lord Caithness visited Kenya
recently and took the opportunity to discuss the situation
wildlife experts there, As a result, he announced on 23 May the
Government's view that there was Now મ case for transferring the
with
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