2
Exports of ivory may be licensed provided that the ivory in
question is from a legal and CITES approved source and is legally held in Hong Kong.
2.
I.
Once the uplisting of the African elephant to
Appendix I comes into effect, the situation will change.
International trade in ivory will be prohibited under Appendix
Domestic, internal trade may continue. Hong Kong has an insignificant domestic market, hence our requirement for a six
month reservation to provide for the orderly disposal of
existing stocks. Under such a reservation, imports of ivory for commercial purposes will remain banned, and export
licences will only be granted in respect of commercial
shipments to non CITES countries or to parties which had
entered the appropriate reservations. Licences would only be
(FOR POSSETON) granted in respect of licensed stock. Meanwhile existing
controls' over this stock would continue.
3.
EXPURT
Any attempt to export commercial quantities of ivory
to a CITES party (eg the USA) would require:
(a) an export licence issued by the HK Government; and
(b) an import licence issued by the US Authorities.
We would not issue (a); the US Authorities would not issue
(b). (Indeed, we understand that the US Authorities would not
issue an import licence even in respect of personal effects.)
4.
The chances of a tourist being able to purchase, and
import an item of over 5kg into, for example, the USA are
remote. Both an export licence issued in Hong Kong and an
import licence issued in the USA are pre-requisites. Traders
are well aware of this. In practice, the situation would be
that, save for personal effects, no ivory presently legally held in Hong Kong could be legally exported to any country which had banned its import.
Economic Services Branch
15 January 1990
WP0813Y