§ Mr. WatsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the decision under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to demand that all African states ban domestic ivory sales. [165252]
§ Mr. MorleyWhile the CITES Secretariat did call for a ban on domestic ivory sales ii African states, the CITES Standing Committee decided that this matter required further consideration by the range states and that the final decision should be referred to the 13th Conference of CITES Parties, which is to take place in Bangkok in October.
The fact that there are unregulated internal markets for ivory in certain parts of Africa is a matter of major concern and I await with interest the Secretariat's proposals for dealing with this matter.