The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment have assigned the Department of Business Development (DBD) and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to regulate traders of domesticated elephant ivory in Thailand, as well as update the registration of traders. Assigned authorities will continuously visit ivory trading areas across Thailand in order to encourage traders to register their business in accordance with the law, starting with eight pilot provinces – Surin, Nakhon Sawan, Buriram, Uthai Thani, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Sukhothai, Chainat and Phuket. Meanwhile, the DBD will prosecute unregistered ivory traders and those who have not correctly listed their products according to the law.
The Director of the Mukdahan Business Development Office added that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) called on Thailand to tackle the illegal ivory trade within its deadline of March 2015. If Thailand does not deal with this problem within that time, it may be commercially boycotted by the international community in the trading of products under CITES, such as orchids, reptile skin and tanned leather. The boycott will have negative impact on the overall import and export of Thailand.
Article can be found here:
http://thainews.prd.go.th/