Written question asked by Sally Keeble (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 November 2004. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Monday, 15 November 2004 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress is being made internationally on improving the protection for African elephants.

Answer: Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress is being made internationally on improving the protection for African elephants. [197791] Mr. Morley: The African elephant is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and all trade in raw ivory is currently suspended. Some elephant populations have recovered sufficiently to allow a one-off sale of existing ivory stocks but this will not take place until we are satisfied that the trade can be properly regulated and that the baseline data for monitoring the impact of such sales on the illegal killing of elephants (MIKE) are in place. The Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), which is funded by Defra, is also helping to monitor the number of ivory seizures and identify the patterns of illegal trade. In addition, the CITES Secretariat has been directed to develop an action plan for dealing with the global market in ivory, focusing in particular on the unregulated domestic markets in Africa. It will also look at the markets in South East Asia, where the increased demand for ivory is thought to be fuelling the illegal killing of elephants.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 426 c1001W;426 c1005W; 197791
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Conservation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Africa Protection Standards Wildlife Elephants
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk