Ivory ban extended to protect elephants
Print Edition
THE government said yesterday it has widened a ban on ivory imports to protect African elephants.
Imports of all ivory and ivory products acquired before 1975 will be banned until the end of the decade, the State Forestry Administration said on its website. The measure came into force on Sunday.
It also extended until the same date existing bans on imports of African ivory carvings acquired after 1975, and all ivory hunting trophies.
China is seen as the major source of demand for African ivory, with prices for a kilogram reaching as much as US$1,100.
Conservationists estimate that more than 20,000 elephants were killed for their ivory last year. The WWF campaign group has said that just 470,000 of the animals remain.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) took effect in 1975. It banned the ivory trade in 1989.
Like other countries, China permits the resale of ivory bought before the 1989 ban — and also has a stockpile purchased with CITES approval in 2008, which it releases for sale with certification.
Activists call for a complete ban on sales.
The issue came up during President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States last year, when the two countries “committed to enact nearly complete bans on ivory import and export.”
China imposed a temporary ban on imports of ivory carvings last year.
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