Mr Stone
18/10
Mr Hercooled 18/10
17/10
WITHO
Private Secretary
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PS/Mr Maude
17 October 1989
PS/Mr Waldegrave Mr Bayne
Mr McLaren
Mr Beetham, MAED Mr Paul, HKD News Dept
280
CITES CONFERENCE: TRADE IN IVORY
1 Mr Maude discussed this issue with Mr Waldegrave on the telephone this morning. They agreed to recommend to the Secretary of State that we continue to resist Department of Environment pressure to change our position in the vote on banning trade in existing legally held stocks of ivory from abstention to a positive vote.
2.
Mr Waldegrave said that if the ban was approved, we would need to decide whether, when and how HMG/Hong Kong Government should implement it. There were important legal and financial implications, which had not yet been thought through. If we had voted in favour, our room for manoeuvre would be severely limited. We should therefore stick to an abstention.
HKCISI/I
e
Ian Lym
Se
Mark Lyall Grant Private Secretary to Francis Maude
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