Conservation groups hail HK’s vote to ban ivory sales by 2021
Print Edition
HONG Kong lawmakers gave final approval yesterday to a government proposal banning local ivory trading in the city by 2021, with conservation groups hailing the move as a major victory in the fight to save elephants.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the measure, voting 49-4 to amend the existing law to outlaw sales of ivory in Hong Kong, which researchers say is the world’s biggest retail ivory market.
The proposal also includes significantly stiffer penalties to deter smuggling of ivory and other highly endangered species.
Under the new law, the maximum sentence will rise to a HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) fine, double the current amount, and 10 years in prison, up from the current two years.
Wildlife activists applauded the move, even as Hong Kong moves more slowly than the Chinese mainland, the biggest source of global ivory demand.
The mainland banned sales at the start of the year after shutting all carving factories and shops last March.
“A ban on ivory sales with heavier penalties in Hong Kong shows a clear commitment toward the future of African elephants,” Cheryl Lo of the World Wildlife Fund said. “This will help reverse the trend of elephant poaching and illegal ivory trafficking.”
The existing law in Hong Kong allowed domestic sales of ivory dating from before the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Under CITES, ivory trading started to be regulated in the mid-1970s before a total ban in 1990 on international sales.
Activists say there are signs that unscrupulous dealers were exploiting that loophole to “launder” newer, illicit ivory, making Hong Kong a major black market trading hub.
They hailed the ban as a major step in efforts to slow the poaching that results in the annual slaughter of tens of thousands of elephants and threatens the lives of park rangers in Africa.
Hong Kong’s government refused to offer any compensation to the city’s dozens of ivory shop owners and hundreds of licensed traders, who had demanded tens of millions of dollars in return for giving up their ivory stockpile, estimated at 670 tons.
The new law will take effect in stages, with the full ban coming into effect at the end of 2021 after traders’ current licenses expire.
Conservation groups, worried that Hong Kong’s five-year enforcement gap with China’s mainland would fuel an increase in illegal trading, urged authorities to enforce regulations and step up monitoring.
WWF also called for governments in other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Japan to institute similar bans, saying there was evidence that those markets are increasingly catering to Chinese visitors.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
