From the Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
20 February 1990
Dear Alan,
Thank you for referring to me a letter from your constituent, Mr Peter Faux of 5 Gwydr Crescent, Uplands, Swansea, West Glamorgan, SA2 0AA about the ivory stocks in Hong Kong.
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Hong Kong is committed to comply in full with the ban on all international commercial trade in ivory
introduced by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) = to which 103 countries are parties on 18 January. Hong Kong has traditionally been a major ivory trading centre and has large stocks of legally-acquired ivory. The Reservation, which we entered on 17 January, is
designed to give Hong Kong a reasonable period in
which to adjust to the ban by allowing traders to
dispose of these stocks in an orderly fashion and
enabling the 3,000 carvers and workers to find alternative employment. Hong Kong has already imposed a ban on all imports of ivory, which will ensure that there is no loophole for the entry of illegal ivory
onto the market. Enforcement is strict and there
should be no joy for the poachers.
The Rt Hon Alan Williams MP
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