Namibia to defend the sale of ivory
Namibia to defend the sale of ivory
Informante
25 February 2010
NAMIBIA will oppose the Kenyan and Malian proposals to extend the sale of Ivory from nine years to 20 years at the forthcoming Doha Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora.
According to the latest statement by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology from the Cabinet Chambers, Kenyan proposals for the 13 to 25 March sales attacks the country’s policy on the sale of the commodity.
Kenya announced that it will push for the amendment of the current annotation on the sale of Ivory in Doha next month.
Namibia also agreed to support the move by both Zambia and Tanzania to down-list their elephant populations from Appendix I to Appendix II and take a consensus that all its diplomatic missions abroad should be made aware of the country’s position on the issue.
The current annotation on the sale of endangered species held at the Hague in Netherlands in 2007 allows Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe to establish a raw ivory annual export quota and regulate commercial trade in all other elephant specimens.
Kenya and Mali also seek to impose a ban on the sale of ivory for the next 20 years and this, according to Namibia could automatically revoke Namibia’s trade rights on ivory for non-commercial purposes.
Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe make millions from the sale of ivory and other by-products from elephants but this could change if the Kenyan and Malian governments successfully implement their proposal.
The current annotation on the sale of ivory allowed for a one-off sale of the commodity in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe and also included the sale of unprocessed ivory for Namibia and worked ivory for Zimbabwe.
If the proposal by Kenya and its allies on the sale of ivory is approved it could nullify Namibia’s trade in ivory translating to the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign currency acquired from the trade of the commodity.
The Kenyans are also gunning for member states to destroy their rhino horn stocks a move that is also contrary to Namibian policy of sustainable use of natural resources.
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