WRITTEN QUESTION E-2632/02

by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission

(18 September 2002)

Subject: CITES Ivory trade

Since CITES downlisted a number of elephant populations in 1997, thus re-opening some ivory trade from Africa, it is estimated that thousands of elephants are still being poached within Africa. Would the Commission confirm what position it and the EU Member States will take at the forthcoming Santiago meeting of CITES in relation to the proposal by India and Kenya to reinstate a full ban on the trade in ivory?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(17 October 2002)

The position to be taken regarding proposals for the next Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) will be decided by the Environment Council on 17 October 2002.

The extent of ivory trade resulting from the downlisting of certain elephant populations under CITES in 1997 is extremely limited. A one-off commercial sale of ivory stocks to Japan took place and limited trade in ivory products for non-commercial purposes is allowed. Following a subsequent Conference of the Parties, African elephant populations in four southern African countries are now listed on Appendix II of CITES, with a zero quota for ivory (i.e. no exports for commercial purposes are allowed). A programme entitled Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) is ongoing to establish a basis for assessing the impact of ivory trade on illegal killing. The Commission has contributed funds to this programme. However, as yet the programme has not gathered sufficient data to draw firm conclusions.

Regarding the proposal by India and Kenya to list all African elephant populations on Appendix I, this is not supported by the relevant scientific criteria. Elephant populations in the southern African range States are generally in a healthy condition and they are also judged to meet the criteria for split-listing (i.e. for listing separate populations of a species on different Appendices of CITES). Furthermore, it has not been proven that the proposal will result in real improvement in the protection currently afforded to elephants.

That said, in the absence of sufficient data from MIKE, the Commission remains to be convinced that further commercial trade in ivory as proposed by some southern African countries will not have a negative impact on the level of illegal killing in other regions.

The Commission is anxious that the final outcome of the conference with regard to this issue should command the support of as many range States as possible and will endeavour to assist in every possible way to this effect.