Thai PM pledges to end domestic ivory trading
Source: Agencies |
March 4, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THAILAND will end its domestic ivory trade, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday, promising legislation that could help the country avoid international trade sanctions after criticism by environmental groups.
The announcement of legislation to end the ivory trade came at the opening ceremony of a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference in Bangkok.
"This will help protect all forms of elephants including Thailand's wild and domestic elephants and those from Africa," Yingluck said in a statement.
Environmental groups such as World Wide Fund for Nature and TRAFFIC, which monitors the wildlife trade, have been calling for CITES to sanction Thailand, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo for their part in the illegal ivory trade.
Thailand is accused by conservation groups of fuelling the already rampant slaughter of African elephants and trade in their ivory through lax enforcement and regulation of its legal domestic market, which the country has never publicly committed to curbing before.
The largely unregulated market is ideal for laundering illegal African ivory into its system before being sold on, environmental groups say.
Groups said it was not clear how Thailand would go about ending its domestic trade, nor how long it would take.
"Prime Minister Shinawatra now needs to provide a timeline for this ban and ensure that it takes place as a matter of urgency, because the slaughter of elephants continues," said Carlos Drews, head of WWF's delegation to CITES.
Thailand is the world's largest illegal ivory market with the ivory being bought by foreign tourists, the WWF says.
CITES banned all international ivory trade in 1989. But the ban never addressed domestic markets like the one in Thailand, where it remains legal as long as only ivory from domesticated elephants is bought and sold.
Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, deputy director general of the Thai department of parks and wildlife, said plans to end the domestic trade might happen "step by step in the future," and for now, authorities will step up measures to make sure African ivory does not enter Thai markets.
The announcement of legislation to end the ivory trade came at the opening ceremony of a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference in Bangkok.
"This will help protect all forms of elephants including Thailand's wild and domestic elephants and those from Africa," Yingluck said in a statement.
Environmental groups such as World Wide Fund for Nature and TRAFFIC, which monitors the wildlife trade, have been calling for CITES to sanction Thailand, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo for their part in the illegal ivory trade.
Thailand is accused by conservation groups of fuelling the already rampant slaughter of African elephants and trade in their ivory through lax enforcement and regulation of its legal domestic market, which the country has never publicly committed to curbing before.
The largely unregulated market is ideal for laundering illegal African ivory into its system before being sold on, environmental groups say.
Groups said it was not clear how Thailand would go about ending its domestic trade, nor how long it would take.
"Prime Minister Shinawatra now needs to provide a timeline for this ban and ensure that it takes place as a matter of urgency, because the slaughter of elephants continues," said Carlos Drews, head of WWF's delegation to CITES.
Thailand is the world's largest illegal ivory market with the ivory being bought by foreign tourists, the WWF says.
CITES banned all international ivory trade in 1989. But the ban never addressed domestic markets like the one in Thailand, where it remains legal as long as only ivory from domesticated elephants is bought and sold.
Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, deputy director general of the Thai department of parks and wildlife, said plans to end the domestic trade might happen "step by step in the future," and for now, authorities will step up measures to make sure African ivory does not enter Thai markets.
- 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.
