§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the EU decision to abstain in respect of the vote at the CITES meeting in Santiago, relating to whether to allow elephant ivory stockpile sales by Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, reflected the position the UK Government advocated in its discussions with EU partners prior to the vote. [83382]
§ Mr Morley[holding answer 27 November 2002]: At the meeting of the Environment Council on 17 October member states agreed that the Community was unwilling to agree to a resumption in commercial ivory trade unless it was satisfied, following consultation with all range states, that there would be no resulting increase in illegal killing of elephants and no unfavourable impact on the conservation of elephant populations. The Community would continue to support the cooperation of range states to this effect.
In Santiago the UK supported the EU view that the initial set of proposals put forward by the range states did not meet these criteria for a resumption in commercial ivory trade. Following a meeting between representatives of range states and the EU, a revised set of proposals was prepared which sought only a one-off sale, subject to strict conditions which must be fulfilled before the sale could go ahead.
On these, the EU agreed to abstain because it was clear that there was no prospect of achieving an agreed view, even on qualified majority voting, to support or oppose the revised proposal. The UK does not believe that the necessary conditions are currently in place, even for a one-off sale. However, if the strict requirements of the agreement (which include a minimum 18-month delay, strict control of the market, stringent monitoring requirements and a condition that the proceeds of any sale are used solely for the benefit of elephant conservation) are met in full and verified, we believe that this agreement strikes the right balance between meeting the legitimate expectations of the southern African states that they should be able to engage in sustainable utilisation of their natural resources, whilst establishing strict controls to secure the conservation of wider elephant populations, as envisaged in the Environment Council decision.