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However MAED have strong
Secretary of State to Mr Patten.
reservations about this recommendation.
Background
3. At the seventh Conference of the parties to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna
(CITES) which was held in Lausanne on 9-20 October 1989, it was
agreed that all international trade in raw and worked ivory by
parties to the Convention should be banned. The African elephant
was transferred from Appendix II of the Convention (listing those
species for which limited trade is permitted under strict CITES
controls) to Appendix I (listing species for which all trade is
prohibited). The UK voted at the Conference in favour of the ban and also tabled a Resolution (which was adopted), calling for the ban to be implemented immediately, rather than allowing the normal
90 day grace period. A further Resolution put forward by the
CITES secretariat, which would have allowed Hong Kong to continue to
trade in existing stocks was defeated. The UK abstained (on Hong
Kong's behalf) in the vote on this Resolution.
4. Hong Kong has long been the centre of the world's ivory trade
and has by far the largest stock pile. Its existing stocks amount
to some 600 tonnes and were estimated to be worth about £83 million
before the ban. The Hong Kong Government estimate that some 3,000
people are directly engaged in the trading and carving of ivory.
5. Hong Kong is a party to CITES through the UK's ratification and the Hong Kong Government have always complied fully with the provisions of the Convention. In response to mounting international
concern about the continued decline of the African elephant, the
Hong Kong Government decided in June this year to ban the import of
any further raw ivory. In October, the Executive Council decided to
phase out the ivory trade altogether, whatever the outcome of the
CITES Conference. But Hong Kong's aim at the Conference was to win
the right for their traders to be allowed to dispose of their
existing stocks, which the Hong Kong Government maintain were all
legally acquired in conformity with CITES regulations.
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