§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to oppose any moves by the South African authorities to transfer their elephant population to appendix II of CITES; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. TrippierThe final decision on the application from South Africa for the downlisting of its elephant population will be a matter for the conference of the parties to CITES. We should need to establish in consultation with our EC partners a common Community position. I can confirm that the United Kingdom would not support any proposals to permit trade to recommence unless we were fully satisfied that the conditions for a resumption of trade, drawn up at the seventh CITES conference, had been met.