CONFIDENTIAL
advantage of the breathing space provided by our reservation to encourage ivory workers to find alternative jobs or to undertake retraining. The Labour Department has opened a special register to
help place workers in new jobs. At the same time, the Executive
Director of the Vocational Training Council has examined the
retraining needs of ivory workers and is liaising with them over
enrolment on retraining courses. So far the response has been
poor; but it is to judge the success of these programmes.
The Hong Kong Government have also continued to enforce a
number of licensing and monitoring measures designed to ensure
strict compliance with existing regulations. There has been a total
ban on imports of ivory into Hong Kong since June 1989. No ivory
can leave Hong Kong without an export license and no licenses are
issued to exports to countries which have implemented the CITES ban.
Since 12 January, possession licenses have also been required for
all commercial ivory and personal effects in excess of 5kg.
Movement of ivory between dealers is recorded and their records of
the stock holdings are adjusted accordingly. A special customs task
for has been created to investigate and suppress any illegal trade
through Hong Kong and maximum fines for violating legislation on
endangered species have been increased five-fold, accompanied by confiscation of illegal consignments.
As colleagues may be aware from press reports, there have beem
claims that our decision to enter a reservation has led directly to
an increase in poaching in Africa. Sir Geoffrey Howe challenged these accusations in the House on 22 February, offering to investigate any evidence of complicity by Hong Kong ivory traders in
illegal trading. But no evidence has so far been produced.
Colleagues may also be aware that a discrepancy has recently come to light between the latest figure given by the Hong Kong
authorities for the size of Hong Kong's ivory stockpile (474 tonnes)
and the figure which they gave last year (670 tonnes). There is no
truth in the suggestion that almost 200 tonnes of ivory have simply disappeared from the territory and may have been illegally exported. The original figure was an estimate based on voluntary declarations
by Hong Kong's ivory traders before the CITES Conference in October
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