UN trade body rules out African ivory sale

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2006

GENEVA (AFP) — The United Nations body on trade in protected species rejected a request by three southern African countries to be allowed to sell stockpiles of ivory, in an exception to a 17-year-old global ban on the trade. "The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has decided not to allow exports of elephant ivory from Botswana (20 tonnes of ivory), Namibia (10 tonnes) and South Africa (30 tonnes) to proceed at this time," the agency said in a statement.

The three countries were granted provisional approval by CITES in 2002 for the one-off sale. But it was was held up pending a study of its impact on elephant populations, in particular its potential to encourage poaching. Speaking before the meeting, CITES head Willem...