§ Lord Northfieldasked Her Majesty's Government:
What response they are making to the pressure from the governments of Kenya and Tanzania for help in promoting a worldwide ban on imports of ivory, in order to prevent extinction of the African elephant population through widespread poaching.
The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (The Earl of Caithness)The Government share the concern that has been expressed about the illegal poaching of African elephants and I discussed the problem with representatives of the government of Kenya and officials of the United Nations Environment Programme while in Nairobi last week. As a result of those discussions, we believe that there is now a clear case for banning all trade in new elephant tusks at the earliest practical opportunity. Effective action can only be secured through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. We shall be proposing to our European Community partners that recommendations for improving the protection of the African elephant should be put to the next conference of the parties to CITES to be held in October.
In the meantime we shall continue to implement strictly the present controls on the import of African ivory under the existing provisions of CITES, which include the scrupulous checking of documentation to ensure that only ivory that has been obtained legally is traded.