Cites ‘loses patience’ with Thailand

The world's top officials on illegal ivory trading say Thailand and other "gang of eight" countries must stop the business within a year or suffer severe trade sanctions.

The British newspaper The Guardian quoted the officials as identifying the other countries involved as source nations Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, "enabling" countries Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, and destination countries Thailand and China.

Tom de Meulenaer, a senior Cites official at the body's conference under way in Bangkok, said the group "had finally lost patience" with Thailand the other seven countries, according to The Guardian's report on its website.

Initial sanctions could come by 204, and would immediately bar all wildlife trade by Thailand, including hugely lucrative orchid and crocodile skin exports, the report said.

Tom Milliken, top Cites investigator on ivory trafficking.

It quoted Tom Milliken, who runs the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) database for Cites, as saying "This Cites meeting should be the time sanctions should be used."

Mr Milliken's group revealed last week that the slaughter of elephants for their ivory has doubled in a decade, while ivory seizures have tripled to an all-time high.

The US-born Mr Milliken signed out Thailand as "a particular problem" because of the country's legal domestic market in ivory, which wildlife experts claim allows illegal African ivory to be laundered.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised Cites delegates Thailand intends to introduce measures to regulate the local ivory market better, which in turn could lead to the end of traffickers' use of Thailand as a destination.

The Guardian's report criticised Ms Yingluck's speech.

"If there is any phasing out of their domestic market, it is likely to be a very long process," it quoted Ben Janse van Rensburg, chief of enforcement at Cites.

The ivory trade shaped up as the most contentious issue even before the Cites convention began. The meeting is scheduled to end Thursday at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/339849/cites-loses-patience-with-thailand