Elephant Ivory (Hansard, 13 February 2004)

§ Mr. Olner
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made regarding the fulfilment of conditions for the proposed sales of elephant ivory stockpiles under the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa in(a) importing countries and (b) exporting countries. [154014]

§ Mr. Morley
It was an essential part of the decision at the last Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that a number of strict conditions should be fulfilled before any of the proposed sales of ivory stockpiles went ahead. These included the provision of baseline data on elephant populations and poaching levels under the MIKE process (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants) and confirmation by the CITES Secretariat that the potential importing countries could effectively regulate their domestic ivory markets. These issues will be discussed at the CITES Standing Committee meeting in Geneva next month. It is therefore too soon to make a definitive assessment but the UK Government remains clear that these sales must not proceed if these conditions have not been fulfilled.

§ Mr. Laurence Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her policy on the trade in elephant142W ivory; what discussions she has had with Ministers from other countries about the trade in elephant ivory; and if she will make a statement. [154207]

§ Mr. Morley
I have discussed the ivory trade with Ministers from other countries on a number of occasions, most recently during my visit to Kenya in October 2003. Officials have also discussed this issue several times in the EC CITES Committee (the Committee on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora), most recently on 29 January 2004. The UK Government are strongly opposed to the illegal and unsustainable trade in elephant ivory.

§ Paul Holmes
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the results from the Elephant Trade Information System; and if she will make a statement. [152670]

§ Mr. Morley
The last comprehensive report on the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) was presented by TRAFFIC at the 12th Conference of the Parties to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) in November 2002. This concluded that the illegal trade in ivory is directly correlated to the presence of large-scale, unregulated ivory markets, predominantly found in West and Central Africa, China and Thailand. The report attributed the upward trend in seized ivory since 1998 to the increased demand for ivory consequent upon increased economic prosperity within China.
The UK shares TRAFFIC'S concerns about the need to regulate domestic ivory markets around the world. Within the UK and the EU as a whole, trade in ivory is strictly regulated through a licensing system. Permits for the sale of ivory are not issued unless it can be shown that the ivory was legally acquired before the current world-wide ban on commercial trade in ivory came into force in 1990.
Last year the Government contributed some £60,000 to help ETIS continue its good work in monitoring the illegal trade in ivory and we will be providing an additional £20,000 this year.

§ Paul Holmes
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate has been made of the amount of illegal ivory sold in the United Kingdom through the antiques trade in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [152671]

§ Mr. Morley
We have made no such estimates. If we were given evidence that illegal ivory was being sold through the antiques trade we would ask the appropriate enforcement authorities to investigate any allegations that are brought to our attention.
All imports, re-exports and sales of antique ivory are controlled under the appropriate EC regulations, and permits and certificates are not issued unless we are satisfied as to their origin. In addition, my Department, HM Customs and Excise and the police, along with non-governmental organisations such as LAPADA (the Association of Art and Antique Dealers), work together to increase public awareness of the wildlife trade controls.