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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 too early to judge the success of these programmes.
The Hong Kong Government have also continued to enforce strict licensing and monitoring measures designed to ensure 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 for 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 force 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 you may be aware from press reports, there have been claims that our decision to enter a reservation has led directly to an increase in poaching in Africa. The Lord President challenged these accusations in the House on 22 February, offering to investigate any evidence of complicity by Hong Kong ivory traders in illegal trading. No evidence has so far been produced.
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 1989. Following the introduction in January of a statutory requirement for the registration of all commercial ivory stocks, it became clear that this estimate had been too high. Part of the difference was also due to the fact that some 50 tonnes had been exported in the interim.
/The position
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