TNAG-1954-FCO40-2783-Trade-of-rare-and-endangered-species-in-Hong-Kong-1989 — Page 36

BACKGROUND

1.

Mr Nicholas Soames. MP and Mrs Kent of "Friends of Conservation"

are calling on the Minister to discuss African elephants. Mrs Kent's

letter to Mr Soames is attached. Mr Tom Sackville. MP is calling

separately to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe regarding

elephants/ivory trade and black rhinos.

2. The plight of the African elephant has recently been highlighted by

a spate of television programmes and articles. It is currently listed

on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to which UK is a party. This

means that trade in ivory may take place only if certain strict criteria

are met, for example, exports of raw ivory must not exceed quotas agreed

by the CITES Secretariat. UK now believes that there is a case for

transferring the African elephant to Appendix I which imposes a

worldwide ban on trade in raw and worked ivory. This will be discussed

at the next CITES Conference in October.

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At the recent EC Environment Council, UK proposed an immediate ban

on the import into the Community of all raw and worked ivory.

This was

strongly supported by other member states but, since the Danes were not

empowered to act formally at that point, the Commission is to put

forward a formal proposal soon. In the meantime, member states have

been urged to take their own measures, and UK brought in a ban with

effect from 9 June. DoE are the Department responsible for this, and

for CITES negotiations.

4.

The role of Hong Kong in the ivory trade has been heavily criticised recently. Hong Kong is also a party to CITES and has strict legislative controls on the import of ivory. The Hong Kong Government do not believe that Hong Kong is a major centre for illegal trade in