China legitimizes ivory, again.

Abstract

In the past, the Chinese ivory industry was licensed to purchase a certain quota of ivory on the grounds of “the inheritance of traditional ivory arts.” Rather than helping to slow the decline of elephant populations, the policy served as a permanent protective umbrella for the illegal ivory trade ([ 1 ][1]). Unfortunately, there are no plans to change the situation for the better. On 11 May 2015, the China State Forestry Administration announced that 34 enterprises were authorized to produce ivory products, and 130 enterprises were certified for ivory trading. The count is down from 37 and 145 ([ 2 ][2]), respectively, in 2013, but the decrease will not change the effect of the policy. Once again, the Chinese government has legitimized ivory trade in China. China has attempted to regulate the ivory trade through franchise and collection certificate systems for ivory products, but to no avail. As long as some ivory is legal, even artificial ivory may not help; traders can claim that illegal ivory is artificial to regulators and that artificial ivory is authentic to buyers, thereby increasing total ivory trade and hastening the extinction of African elephants ([ 3 ][3]). Classifying even a portion of authentic ivory as legitimate may result in misinformation for consumers regarding illegal ivory trading. An inquiry conducted by the International Fund for Animal Welfare indicates that more than 70% of the Chinese public is unaware that ivory is acquired at the cost of elephant slaughter ([ 4 ][4]) or that much of the revenue supports terrorist groups ([ 4 ][4]). The European Union and the United States, both as contracting parties of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, have already banned the import of commercial ivory products. We call on the Chinese government to likewise ban international and commercial trade with a firmer hand, in order to stem the excessive consumption of ivory products and protect African elephants. 1. [↵][5]1. S. Huang, 2. Q. Weng , Science 343, 611 (2014). [OpenUrl][6][FREE Full Text][7] 2. [↵][8]“Ivory import should be banned, legitimate import aggravates smuggling,” [opinion.huanqiu.com][9] (27 February 2015); [in Chinese]. 3. [↵][10]1. Z. M. Zhou , Nature 507, 40 (2014). [OpenUrl][11] 4. [↵][12]“Blood ivory,” South. Wkly. (15 November 2013); [www.infzm.com/content/95931][13] [in Chinese]. [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #ref-4 [5]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [6]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DScience%26rft.stitle%253DScience%26rft.aulast%253DHuang%26rft.auinit1%253DS.%26rft.volume%253D343%26rft.issue%253D6171%26rft.spage%253D611%26rft.epage%253D611%26rft.atitle%253DChina%2527s%2BIvory%2BMarket%253A%2BThe%2BElephant%2Bin%2Bthe%2BRoom%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1126%252Fscience.343.6171.611-b%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F24503835%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [7]: /lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiRlVMTCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6Mzoic2NpIjtzOjU6InJlc2lkIjtzOjE0OiIzNDMvNjE3MS82MTEtYiI7czo0OiJhdG9tIjtzOjI1OiIvc2NpLzM0OC82MjQyLzE0MzcuMy5hdG9tIjt9czo4OiJmcmFnbWVudCI7czowOiIiO30= [8]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [9]: http://opinion.huanqiu.com [10]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [11]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DNature%26rft.volume%253D507%26rft.spage%253D40%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [12]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text [13]: http://www.infzm.com/content/95931