Thailand wil verwijderd worden van CITES zwarte lijst illegale ivoorhandel

Govt seeks removal from Cites blacklist

23-02-2010 The Bangkok Post, Thailand


Thailand is trying to persuade a UN wildlife trade watchdog to remove it from the blacklist of countries involved in the illegal ivory trade.

The director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Jatuporn Burutpat, yesterday said Thailand was preparing a report to submit to a meeting of the Conference of the Parties to Cites in Qatar's Doha from March 13 to 25.

The report will attempt to explain to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) that the illegal ivory trade in Thailand has diminished and ask that the Kingdom be removed from the illegal ivory trade blacklist.

Mr Jatuporn said police had seized more than two tonnes of smuggled ivory worth more than 50 million baht in the past two years, and there had also been foreign reports that exports of Thai products made from elephant tusks had been intercepted.

The illegal ivory trade in Thailand was raised at the 14th Cites conference at The Hague in the Netherlands in 2007.

Cites has since kept a close watch on Thailand after it was identified as a major route for trading in illegal ivory, alongside Congo and Nigeria in Africa.

The government at the time passed a cabinet resolution on Jan 22, 2008, stepping up the campaign against illegal ivory, Mr Jatuporn said.
Thai authorities have been working with the wildlife trade-monitoring network Traffic to crack down on the illegal ivory trade.

Mr Jatuporn said airlines flying in and out of the Thailand on March 3 would be asked to warn their passengers that it is illegal to transport ivory and items made from tusks in or out of the country.

Authorities would also inspect the homes of anyone, including influential people, where elephant tusks are on display to check if they have proper ownership papers.

(Bron: http://www.bangkokpost.com/)