§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement regarding the provenance of the 116 tonnes of ivory in Hong Kong that does not have CITES documents specified in the letter sent by the Hong Kong Agriculture and Fisheries Department to the World Wide Fund for Nature, Hong Kong, dated 27 February, a copy of which has been made available to him.
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§ Mr. Waldegrave[holding answer 8 March 1990]: The Hong Kong authorities cannot provide a breakdown of the places of origin of the 116 tonnes of ivory in the territory that do not have CITES documentation. But these have been inspected by the Hong Kong authorities, which have found no evidence that any of these were illegally acquired. No stocks without CITES documentation may be exported from Hong Kong.
§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his reply of 2 February,Official Report, column 405, what further information he has about ivory stocks currently held in Hong Kong (a) that are not marked and registered in accordance with CITES regulations or (b) were illegally acquired.
§ Mr. Waldegrave[holding answer 8 March 1990]: There are 116 tonnes of ivory in Hong Kong which do not have CITES documentation. The Hong Kong authorities have inspected all commercial ivory stocks in the territory. They have found no evidence that any of these stocks were illegally acquired.
§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the latest available figure for the current stock of elephant ivory held in Hong Kong under CITES regulations; and if he will indicate the reasons for the changes in the totals between(a) this figure, (b) the figure given in his answer of 2 February, Official Report, column 405 and (c) the figure given in his answer of 20 July 1989, Official Report, column 334.
§ Mr. Waldegrave[holding answer 8 March 1990]: The latest available figure for the current stock of elephant ivory held in Hong Kong under CITES regulations (to the nearest tonne) is 356 tonnes, including 102 tonnes of worked ivory and 254 tonnes of raw ivory.
The figure for worked ivory is slightly smaller than that given on 2 February (104 tonnes) because exports of two tonnes have been notified to the Hong Kong authorities since then. The reason why the total figure for the current ivory stock is substantially less than the figure of 670 tonnes given by my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on 20 July 1989 is that the earlier figure was an estimate based on voluntary declarations by traders. The introduction of a statutory requirement for all commercial holdings of ivory to be licensed has made it possible to produce a much more accurate figure. Moreover, some 50 tonnes of ivory have been exported since the original declaration was made.