Annex 2

Action plan for the control of trade in African elephant ivory

1. All African elephant range States¹ should urgently:

a) prohibit the unregulated domestic sale of ivory (raw, semi-worked or worked). Legislation should include a provision which places the onus of proof of lawful possession upon any person found in possession of ivory in circumstances from which it can reasonably be inferred that such possession was for the purpose of unauthorized transfer, sale, offer for sale, exchange or export or any person transporting ivory for such purposes;

b) issue instructions to all law enforcement and border control agencies to enforce existing or new legislation rigorously; and

c) engage in public awareness campaigns publicizing existing or new prohibitions on ivory sales.

2. Parties should, by 31 March 2005, report to the Secretariat on progress made. Such reports should include details of seizures, copies of new legislation, copies of administrative instructions or orders to enforcement agencies and details of awareness campaigns. The Secretariat should report on Parties’ progress at the 53rd meeting of the Standing Committee.

3. In the interim, the Secretariat should work with the relevant countries in Africa to provide any technical assistance that may be necessary to aid the implementation of this action plan.

4. The Secretariat should also engage in efforts to publicize the present action plan and the subsequent halting of domestic ivory sales in individual African countries through contacting relevant organizations such as airlines and IATA. It should also, via ICPO-Interpol and the World Customs Organization, communicate with the heads of police and Customs authorities in Africa, advising them of this initiative. Furthermore the Secretariat should request all Parties worldwide to publicize the action plan, particularly to discourage persons who are travelling to Africa from purchasing raw, semi-worked or worked² ivory and to encourage border control authorities to be alert to illegal imports of ivory and to make every effort to intercept illicit movements of ivory.

5. All elephant range States are recommended to cooperate with existing research projects studying the identification of ivory, especially by supplying relevant samples for DNA and other forensic science profiling.

6. The Secretariat should seek the assistance of Governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations in supporting the work to eradicate illegal exports of ivory from the African continent and the unregulated domestic markets that contribute to illicit trade.

7. At the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, the Secretariat should seek the agreement of the Parties that it would, from 1 June 2005, ensure that work is undertaken, including in situ verification missions where appropriate, to assess, on a country-by-country basis, progress made with the implementation of the action plan. Priority should be given to those Parties that are identified during research by the Secretariat and through other appropriate sources of information to have active and unregulated internal markets for ivory. Priority should be given to Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Nigeria and any other country identified through ETIS.

8. In cases where Parties or non-Parties are found not to implement the action plan, or where ivory is found to be illegally sold, the Secretariat should issue a Notification to the Parties advising them that the Conference of the Parties recommends that Parties should not engage in commercial trade in specimens of CITES-listed species with the country in question.

9. The Secretariat should continue to monitor all domestic ivory markets outside Africa to ensure that internal controls are adequate and comply with the relevant provisions of Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP12) on Trade in elephant specimens. Priority should be given to China, Japan and Thailand, with particular attention being paid to any Party that has notified the Secretariat that it wishes to authorize imports of ivory for commercial purposes.

10. The Secretariat should report upon the implementation of the action plan at each meeting of the Standing Committee.

 

1	Except any Party for which an annotation in the Appendices authorizes trade in worked ivory.
2	Except Parties where the export of worked ivory for non-commercial purposes is lawful.