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<p>The Government is deeply concerned by the continued poaching of elephants for their
ivory, which is why we are committed to maintaining the current global ban on any
international trade in new ivory. The UK has made no formal assessment of the impact
of other countries’ additional measures to restrict trade in ivory. However, as a
further step in delivering the Government’s manifesto commitment to press for a total
ban on ivory sales, on 21 September the Secretary of State announced plans for a ban
on sales of items containing ivory dated between 1947 and the present day, putting
UK rules on ivory sales among the world’s toughest. We will consult on plans for the
ban early next year. This will complement the existing UK approach not to permit the
trade of raw ivory tusks.</p><p> </p><p>The Government also successfully lobbied for
the EU-wide adoption of the existing UK ban on sales of raw ivory tusks, which was
advocated through the EU Council Conclusions on an EU Action Plan on Wildlife Trafficking
and adopted in June. This urged EU Member States not to issue export or re-export
documents under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
for raw, pre-Convention ivory (pre-1990) and to consider further measures to put a
halt to commercial trade in ivory from elephants.</p><p> </p><p>At the CITES Conference
that took place from 24 September to 5 October the UK was involved in negotiations
that successfully secured a strong agreement calling for the closure of domestic ivory
markets where they contribute to poaching or illegal trade. This was agreed by all
183 Parties to CITES.</p>
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