Elephants – control of internal ivory trade

Directed to Parties, donors and organizations

12.36

Parties, donors and organizations are requested to provide urgent financial and technical support to strengthen the implementation of Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP12) regarding control of internal ivory trade in elephant range States for, inter alia: a) building capacity for law enforcement within elephant range States; b) improving public awareness of the conservation impacts from unregulated national trade in ivory; c) improving coordination and cooperation amongst national law enforcement agencies; d) registering and marking raw ivory in public and private possession, and registering and licensing all importers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers dealing in raw, semi-worked or worked ivory products; e) introducing recording and inspection procedures as part of a system of comprehensive and compulsory national trade controls; and f) urgently strengthening provisions in their national legislation concerning the regulation of internal ivory markets and the implementation of CITES in general where necessary.

Directed to the Standing Committee

12.37

The Standing Committee, at its 50th meeting, shall review the work conducted by the Secretariat and the Parties to comply with Decision 12.39 and shall consider whether additional measures are appropriate. In the case of non-compliance these may include recommendations to restrict the commercial trade in specimens of CITES-listed species to or from the Parties concerned.

Directed to the Secretariat

12.38

The Secretariat shall assist range States as outlined in Decision 12.36 paragraphs a) to f).

12.39

a) Contingent on the availability of funding, the Secretariat shall assess whether countries with currently active internal ivory markets (i.e. Cameroon, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Japan, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda and the United States of America) have established the comprehensive internal legislative, regulatory and enforcement measures specified in Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP12) regarding compliance with control of internal trade. b) Where such assessments demonstrate that a Party does not have adequate measures, the Secretariat shall seek from that Party an action plan that is an outline of its programme to adopt measures to enable it to adequately regulate trade in ivory. The purpose of such a plan is to establish and commit to a timeframe for developing, approving, enacting and implementing such measures. The Secretariat shall provide technical assistance in the development of such plans.