GENEVA 6-10 July 2009 The 58th meeting of CITES Standing Committee assesses ivory sale

The 58th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will be evaluating the results of a controversial legal sale of ivory and planning the agenda for the 15th CITES Conference of the Parties in 2010. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe held the ivory sales in October and November 2008 under an agreement concluded in Jun 2007 at The Hague, and under the supervision of CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers.

The CITES Standing Committee oversees the implementation of rules for the international wildlife trade when the Conference of the 173 CITES member States is not in session.

The sale is controversial because opinion is split on whether the sale will help or hurt efforts to stop elephant poaching.

The committee will also be refining the CITES Strategic Vision that was outlined at CoP14. Other likely issues inlude the farming of tigers in Asia, the poaching of rhinos for use in traditional medicine, the legal origin of mahogany harvested in the Amazon basin and the levels of trade of African cherry, which is used in the treatment of prostate cancer.

Some 300 participants from all over the world are expected to attend, including observers from Parties, intergovernmental bodies, business community and non-governmental organizations specialized in wildlife conservation and international trade.

The proceeds of the ivory sales must be used exclusively for elephant conservation and community development programmes within or adjacent to the elephant range. The revenues are expected to boost the countries' capacity to conserve biodiversity, strengthen enforcement controls and contribute to the livelihoods of the rural people in southern Africa.

Each sale is to consist of a single shipment per destination and may only go to China and Japan, whose internal controls on ivory sales comply with the required verification standards established by CITES for this one-off sale.

The 2007 African agreement stipulates that after these shipments have been completed, no new proposals for further sales from the four countries concerned are to be considered by CITES during a resting period of nine years that will commence as soon as the new sales have been completed. UPDATED Jun/09

RELATED READING AND CONTACT:

Controversial legal ivory sale raises US $1.2 million
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/28/ivory.auction/

contact Juan-Carlos Vasquez at +41-22-917-8156 or juan.vasquez@cites.org