SECRETARY
OF STATE
ENVIRONMENT
CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Paul, HKD - Adept
The Rt Hon Douglas Hurd MP Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Downing Street
LONDON
SWl
Ps
PS/MrMandl BS /Waldgave Mr Gothmore ir Bayne Mr. Mclare Mr Lidington Mr Beetham, MAED
Dear Foreign Secretary
2 MARSHAM STREET
LONDON SWIP 3EB
01-276 3000
My ref:
Your ref:
18 December 1989
Thank you for your letter of 7 December proposing that the United Kingdom enter a reservation on Hong Kong's behalf to the decision taken at Lausanne to place the African elephant on Appendix I of the Convention.
I do appreciate the sensitivities of anything relating to Hong Kong at the present time. I also appreciate the special circumstances in the Colony and recognise the considerable lengths to which the authorities, and the industry, have gone to ensure that the present stocks of ivory there are monitored and controlled. But all these measures were fully explained to the Conference before the parties there voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal that would have allowed trade in existing stocks. And you will recall we attracted considerable criticism from the UK press and the environmental lobbies generally for our decision to abstain from the vote on the issue.
If, under Article XV(3) of the Washington Convention, we were to make the reservation you propose, it would seem that the United Kingdom would be treated as a State not party to the Convention with respect to trade in the African elephant, although we would wish to make clear that the reservation was in respect of Hong Kong and for no longer than July 1990.
Thus to enter a reservation would be in my view ill advised. It would be misunderstood by the public at large. It would attract further, and no doubt well orchestrated criticism. It would be difficult to defend. We would be seen as acting in a manner- inconsistent with our hitherto unwavering support for the Appendix I listing (and its consequences), and the lead we gave to the rest of the Community in the months leading up to the Lausanne Conference. I believe that the political arguments against entering a reservation are substantial.
I cannot therefore give you the confirmation you seek.
I am copying this letter to the Prime Minister.
се
3 Bush
PP CHRIS PATTEN
He
(approved by the Secretary of Stat
and signed in
CONFIDENTIAL
in his absence)