WHY IS CITES ENDORSING CHINA?

[Guest guest]

Azam, it makes perfect sense. The sham of the ivory ³ban² can be found in

CITES' own documents:

 

http://www.cites.org/eng/res/10/10-10R14.shtml for example.

 

It¹s not a ban on trade at all, but more of a regulation on how to export.

The wool has been pulled over our eyes, or in this case, the illusion of

some large concerted effort to stop the trade of ivory. Looks to me like one

legal entity cutting out the illegal competition to fill their own pockets.

Who benefits from this sale? Follow the money and then look at the

contributing donor-dollar statistics on the CITES site. Some parties want

ivory, others need dollars. What¹s not to get? But writing to the

Secretariat is a good idea, as he does have the power to stop ivory sales

according to their own charter.

 

However, let¹s not kid ourselves. The ivory trade still exists, sanctioned

by CITES, whereas National Parks or managed ³habitats² petition CITES to

legally sell ivory stockpiles from dead elephants. For example, an old male

dies and the park rangers then dispose of the body, but not the tusks. They

are stockpiled for future sales. Or, a more sinister scenario can be

envisioned: a young bull is classified as ³mad² as he is terrorizing local

villagers with his adolescent angst. But he has a nice rack. He¹s shot, his

body disposed of, but not the tusks. They are stockpiled for future sales.

This is how humans (from animal protection services) have decided on how to

stop other humans (poachers) from killing elephants for their bones.

 

I feel like an alien on my own planet, as that really makes no sense at all.

If one were to want to really stop a trade, or ³ban² the sales, one would

just dispose of the commodity, or in this case, as the commodity is attached

to another living being, protect the being ­ and then dispose of the

commodity after the being is dead. A 10-year old could figure this out.

 

Jigs in Nepal

 

 

 

 

AZAM SIDDIQUI <azam24x7

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:13:00 +0530

aapn <aapn >

WHY IS CITES ENDORSING CHINA?

 

* " WHY IS CITES ENDORSING CHINA? This question is on everone's lips. It makes

no sense whatsoever. We do know that one particular person is letting us

down, his name is John Sellars and nobody can understand what the hell he is

doing. A one man show, John is the only person who travels around the world

for CITES examining their controls. Of course he always calls ahead giving

everyone time to clean up their acts. For someone in law enforcement it's

not exactly sensible is it? It's time for John to retire! My personal

opinion is that he has become a liability for wildlife. "

 

*(extracted from the article below: " Stop China from Trading Ivory! " )*

*

Please go through the write up below and those wanting to contact Mr John

Sellar can do through his contact details attached.

 

Azam Siddiqui

______________________*

*

John M. Sellar

Anti-smuggling, Fraud and Organized Crime/La lutte contre la

contrebande, la fraude et le crime organisé/Anticontrabando, fraude y

delincuencia organizada

CITES Secretariat/Secretaría CITES/Secrétariat CITES

International Environment House

Chemin des Anémones

1219 Châtelaine - Geneva

Switzerland/Suiza/Suisse

 

tel. (+4122) 917 8139

tel (+4122) 917 8293 (direct)

fax (+4122) 797 3417

email: john.sellar <john.sellar%40unep.ch>

 

________________________________

 

Link:

http://nothoney.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/stop-china-from-trading-ivory/*

* *Stop China From Trading Ivory!* Posted on July 11, 2008 by nothoney

 

Recently, the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species

decided to reverse the ban on ivory trade. This is *very bad news for

elephants.* I'm going to copy the latest post from Dr. Paula Kahumbu, the

CEO of Wildlife Direct, that explains what's happening and how China is

gearing up to trade big-time in ivory, causing the slaughter of thousands of

endangered African elephants. You can also visit

Ivory.Net<http://www.ivorynet.com/banivorytrade/index.htm>to learn

more about the ban and CITES' decision to overturn it and there's a

letter you can send via form to US Fish & Wildlife, among other, to urge

them to stop this action.

 

I've written in the past about wildife poaching for weapons, and this threat

continues to be the greatest that wildlife conservationists face today.

Don't doubt for a moment that the ivory sales will be used to feed starving

children; instead that money will be used to fight wars for oil and other

natural resources. See The World Is On Fire and We Are the

Torches<http://nothoney.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/the-world-is-on-fire-and-we

-are-the-torches/>and

Wildlife

Poaching Will Be the Death of Us

All<http://nothoney.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/wildlife-poaching-will-be-the-d

eath-of-us-all/>and

Wildlife's

Greatest Threat - Poaching for

Profit<http://nothoney.wordpress.com/2008/03/09/wildlifes-greatest-threat-po

aching-for-profit/>

..

 

I urge you *strongly* to sit at your keyboard and send letters to the CITES

standing committee members, most of whom have e-mail addresses. There's also

a link to an IFAW petition. *This is a critical time, people. Take Action

now!*

 

**

" For the first time in nearly a decade, the international sale of ivory from

endangered African elephants has been authorized by the Convention on

International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat. An estimated

119 tons (108 tonnes) of ivory, put up for sale from Botswana, Namibia,

South Africa and Zimbabwe, which was in part conditionally approved in 2002,

has been audited and verified by the CITES Secretariat. *This sum represents

the deaths of more than 10,000 African elephants.*

Last year, a nine-year suspension on elephant ivory trade was approved at

the 14th meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties, coming into affect

after the stockpiles sales are completed. This suspension is restricted only

to the countries involved in this sale (Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and

Zimbabwe). Other countries could submit proposal to sell ivory stock piles

at the next CITES conference in early 2010.

 

The CITES Secretariat has not only endorsed the ivory sales but it has

accepted China as an importer for these stocks.

 

This news has shocked the conservation world.

 

Yesterday I spent two hours talking to Esmond Bradley-Martin about his views

on the impending sale of ivory to China. For the first time in history I

heard the normally soft spoken, dapper Esmond, explode into a fit of

swearing. He knows CITES through and through, he has never seen anything

like this before. He admitted that he was astounded, disgusted, baffled and

outraged that the CITES Secretariat had endorsed China. Famous for his

undercover work revealing the scale of illegal ivory trade in Asia, Africa

and Europe and is considered the world authority, Esmond has revealed again

and again how bad China is. Nobody has ever questioned the accuracy of his

data, not even CITES. But even more shocking, the CITES Secretariat has

ignored their own data from their organs including TRAFFIC which specializes

on illegal trade in wildlife, ETIS the Elephant Trade and Information

System, and MIKE the Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants program

which all conclude the same thing, that China has been flouting the CITES

regulations and is the single largest threat to elephants. " Why the hell are

we paying millions of dollars to these institutions to gather data if the

Secretariat is going to ignore it anyway? " asked Esmond.

**

 

*WHY IS CITES ENDORSING CHINA?* This question is on everone's lips. It makes

no sense whatsoever. We do know that one particular person is letting us

down, his name is John Sellars and nobody can understand what the hell he is

doing. A one man show, John is the only person who travels around the world

for CITES examining their controls. Of course he always calls ahead giving

everyone time to clean up their acts. For someone in law enforcement it's

not exactly sensible is it? It's time for John to retire! My personal

opinion is that he has become a liability for wildlife.

**

 

*The only thing that could stop this decision from going forward is a NO

from the CITES Standing Committee* which is made up of governments. Until

now Japan has been the sole country yet approved by CITES as a trading

partner for these ivory stocks while China is up for consideration at CITES

SC57 next month. " China is the single largest destination for illegal ivory

and to accept them as an importer for these legal stocks will only sustain

the rampant poaching that African nations are faced with today, " says

Michael Wamithi, Director of the global Elephants Program at International

Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and former Director of Kenya Wildlife

Service (KWS).

**

 

*We can stop this from happening friends,* if we get to the members of the

CITES Standing committee.

 

Write to your local MP or Congressman, tell them to *oppose the stockpile

sales and any future calls to reopen the trade in ivory.*

 

The countries of the Standing Committee are DR Congo, Mali, Zambia, Kenya,

China (!), Japan, Iran, Chile, Costa Rica, St. Vincent, Bulgaria, UK,

Iceland, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Quatar

 

Please write to their CITES authorities and plead with them to vote NO. All

their addresses can be found

here<http://www.cites.org/eng/com/SC/member.shtml>.

*The meeting takes place from 14th - 18th of July so start writing now!*

 

*Democratic Republic of the Congo /

República Democrática del Congo /

République déocratique du Congo*

 

M. Pascal Ngoy-Taki

Directeur des Ressources Fauniques et Chasse

15, avenue Papa Ileo

Commune de la Gombe

B.P. 868

KINSHASA 1

 

T: +243 998 24 40 45

E: ngoy_pascal

**

 

*Ghana*

 

Mr Nana Kofi Adu-Nsiah

Executive Director

Wildlife Division of Forestry Commission

P.O. Box M239

ACCRA

 

T: +233 (20) 81 21 20 (mobile / celular)

E: adunsiah;

mike

 

Correspondence should be copied to /

La correspondencia debe copiarse a /

La correspondance devrait être copiée à:

 

Prof. Alfred Oteng-Yeboah

c/o Wildlife Division of Forestry Commission

P.O. Box M239

Ministries Post Office

ACCRA

 

T: +233 (24) 77 22 56 (mobile / celular)

E: otengyeboah;

**

 

*Kenya*

 

Attn.: Dr Julius Kipng'etich

Kenya Wildlife Service

P.O. Box 40241-00100

NAIROBI

 

T: +254 (20) 60 08 00;

F: +254 (20) 60 37 92

E: director; kipngetich

cc: cites; jgichiah

**

 

*Zambia / Zambie*

 

Dr Lewis Saiwana – CITES Management Authority

Zambia Wildlife Authority

Private Bag 1

CHILANGA

 

T: +260 (1) 27 90 80; 27 85 01;

+260 (95) 578 99 82 (mobile / celular)

F: +260 (1) 275 24; 27 82 99

E: cites

cc: info

**

 

*Islamic Republic of Iran / República Islámica del Iran / République

islamique d'Iran

*

Department of the Environment

Pardisan Nature Park

Shahid Hemat Highway

TEHRAN 15875-5181

 

T: +98 (21) 88 24 16 85-6

F: +98 (21) 88 24 16 87

**

 

*Japan / Japón / Japon*

 

Global Environment Division

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2-2-1, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku

TOKYO 100-8919

 

T: +81 (3) 35 80 33 11 (ext. 2357)

F: +81 (3) 55 01 82 44

E: yukihiro.takeya

 

Correspondence should be copied to /

La correspondencia debe copiarse a /

La correspondance devrait être copiée à:

 

Ms Risa Kasai

Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Office and Other

International Organizations at Geneva

3, chemin des Fins

Case postale 337

CH-1211 GENEVE 19

Switzerland / Suiza / Suisse

 

T: +41 (22) 717 31 11;

717 33 24 (direct / directo)

F: +41 (22) 788 38 11

E: risa.kasai

**

 

*Chile / Chili*

 

H.E. Sr. Cristian Maquieira A.

Chairman of the CITES Standing Committee

Dirección de Medio Ambiente

Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores

SANTIAGO

 

T: +56 (2) 679 43 85

F: +56 (2) 673 21 52

E: cmaquieira;

cmaquieira

**

 

*Costa Rica*

 

José Joaquín Calvo Domingo

Encargado de Vida Silvestre

Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación

Ministerio del Ambiente y Energía

Apartado Postal 10.104-1000

SAN JOSÉ

 

T: +506 256 09 17 (ext. 167; 153)

F: +506 256 24 36

E: joaquin.calvo

cc: citescostarica

 

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines /

San Vicente y las Granadinas /

Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines

 

Mr Raymond Ryan

Chief Fisheries Officer

Fisheries Division

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Richmond Hill

KINGSTOWN

St. Vincent

 

T: +1 (784) 456 11 78

F: +1 (784) 457 21 12

E: fishdiv

**

 

*Bulgaria / Bulgarie*

 

National Nature Protection Serviceate

Ministry of Environment and Water

22, Maria Louisa Blvd

1000 SOFIA

 

T: Director/directeur: +359 (2) 940 65 41;

Experts/expertos: +359 (2) 940 65 34/

37/54; 940 66 29

F: +359 (2) 981 66 10; 980 96 41

E: nnpsf

**

 

*United Kingdom / Reino Unido / Royaume-Uni*

 

Mr Trevor Salmon

Head of CITES Policy Unit

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Wildlife Species Conservation Division

1st Floor, Temple Quay House

2 The Square, Temple Quay

BRISTOL BS1 6EB

 

T: +44 (117) 372 83 84;

(7881) 50 22 13 (mobile / celular)

F: +44 (117) 372 83 73

E: trevor.salmon

cc: dominic.whitmee

*

Iceland / Islandia / Islande*

 

Department of Natural Resources and the Environment

Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Raudararstigur 25

150 REYKJAVIK

 

T: +354 545 99 00

F: +354 562 23 73

E: thorir.ibsen;

cc: bjarni.sigtryggsson

**

 

*Canada / Canadá*

 

Ms Virginia Poter General

Canadian Wildlife Service

Environment Canada

OTTAWA, Ontario

K1A OH3

 

T: +1 (819) 994 13 60

F: +1 (819) 953 71 77

E: virginia.poter

cc: carolina.caceres; basile.vanhavre

 

For mailing by courier / Para el envío por mesajería / Pour envois par

messagerie

Canadian Wildlife Service

Environment Canada

Place Vincent Massey, Room 331

351 St-Joseph Blvd

GATINEAU, Quebec

J8Y 3Z5

**

 

*Australia / Australie*

 

Ms Kerry Smith

Assistant Secretary

Wildlife Branch

Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources

G.P.O. Box 787

CANBERRA, ACT 2601

 

T: +61 (2) 62 74 12 24

F: +61 (2) 62 74 19 21

E: kerry.smith;

cc: jane.o'sullivan

**

 

*Switzerland / Suiza / Suisse*

 

Mr Mathias Loertscher

Office vétérinaire fédéral

Liebefeld-Bern

Schwarzenburgstr. 155

CH-3003 BERN

T: +41 (31) 323 81 59

F: +41 (31) 323 85 22

E: mathias.loertscher

**

 

*Netherlands / Países Bajos / Pays-Bas*

 

Mr Giuseppe Raaphorst

Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality

Department of Nature

Postbus 20401

NL-2500 EK DEN HAAG

 

T: +31 (70) 378 50 09

F: +31 (70) 378 61 46

E: g.b.raaphorst;

cc: s.j.d.verbunt

**

 

*Qatar*

 

The Supreme Council for the Environment

and Natural Reserves

P.O. Box 7634

DOHA

 

T: +974 443 71 71; 435 84 17

F: +974 441 52 46

E: gamohammad

 

What will happen if the sale goes through? Poaching will no doubt escalate

because China does not have adequate controls to tell the difference between

legal and illegal ivory. China has the cheapest labor for producing ivory

products, it costs about one-tenth of the costs of working ivory in Japan.

We predict Chinese ivory will enter Japanese markets, ivory prices will

escalate, and more illegal ivory will flow out of Africa to supply the

Chinese markets where it will be mixed with legal ivory and therefore be

untraceable. According to one study, up to 23,000 elephants are killed in

Africa each year for the ivory trade! It is so lucrative that even UN peace

keepers are involved in the bloody business.

 

 

 

--

United against elephant polo

http://www.stopelephantpolo.com

http://www.freewebs.com/azamsiddiqui