At the CITES Conference the Hong Kong representative in the UK delegation announced that 80% of worked ivory then registered in Hong Kong was covered by valid CITES documentation. He explained that the remaining 20% did not have CITES documents and that it could not be exported.
The WWF News article questions the Hong Kong Government's ability to control the ivory trade and associates an upturn in poaching with Hong Kong. We cannot rule out the possibility that unscrupulous traders might try to move ivory illegally into or out of Hong Kong but we are confident that the Hong Kong authorities have in place effective machinery to intercept illegal consignments of ivory. Moreover, as Sir Geoffrey Howe made clear in the House of Commons on 22 February, if there is any evidence of complicity by Hong Kong traders in illegal trading in ivory, we will investigate it thoroughly. No such evidence have as yet been produced.
bcc:
Mr Holroyd, HKD Mr Evans, MAED
Your ever,
Sue
Sue McHugh (Miss) Protocol Department
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