Ivory Trade (No. 2)

EDM number 696 in 2009-10, proposed by Lindsay Hoyle on 25/01/2010.
Categorised under the topics of International trade, Nature conservation and Wildlife.

That this House strongly opposes demands from Tanzania and Zambia temporarily to lift the worldwide ban on ivory trading for a one-off sale; notes that at present the illegal ivory trade is already devastating elephant populations and in some central and west African countries is pushing them close to extinction; further notes that the resumption of any such trading creates a market into which illegally-poached ivory can be laundered, therefore boosting demand and increasing the risk to elephants; is dismayed that the issue is being debated despite agreements that when the last ivory auction was sanctioned in 2007 there would be no more such one-off sales for at least nine years; calls on the Government to take a clear lead in opposing all moves to weaken the ban; and urges UK representatives in Europe to make their voice heard at the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Qatar in March 2010.

This motion has been signed by a total of 71 MPs.