Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Monday, 9 February 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 25 February 2004. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Wednesday, 25 February 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 steps her Department is taking to ensure that the proposed sales of ivory stockpiles do not conceal illegal trade.

Answer: Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the proposed sales of ivory stockpiles do not conceal illegal trade. [154618] Mr. Morley: The decision to allow this one-off sale of ivory stockpiles was taken at the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Chile in November 2002. One of several very strict pre-conditions which must be met before any sales can take place is that the CITES Secretariat must be satisfied that the importing countries are able to effectively regulate their domestic ivory trade to prevent any illegal ivory from entering into these markets. We will therefore be working in co- operation with the EU member states and other CITES parties to make sure that this, and all the other strict conditions, are met in full before any sales are allowed to go ahead.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 418 c422W;418 c442W; 154618
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Animal products Sales Trade Ivory Elephants
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk