The initial post on this thread indicated that China was promising to shutdown the Chinese ivory trade – but when? Jani Actman of National Geographic reports a date has been set:
China will shut down its domestic ivory trade by the end of 2017, according to an announcement made today by the Chinese government. …
China now has 34 ivory manufacturers and 130 licensed retail shops that sell ivory, Wei Ji, an independent wildlife researcher, told the Guardian earlier this month. According to today’s announcement, China will revoke some licenses by March 2017 and eventually stop all commercial ivory carving and retail sales by the end of the year. The plan to phase out the ivory trade also encourages ivory carvers to begin using other materials.
Also according to Jani, the Americans are also fulfilling their pledge:
The U.S., also a significant market for elephant ivory, held up its end of the agreement with China in June when it enacted a near-total ban on the commercial trade of African elephant ivory. The new rules further limited exports and sales across state lines and restricted a hunter’s allowable ivory trophy imports to no more than two a year.
Which leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe just because, as an engineer, I hate arbitrary exceptions. Or maybe I just see this as a way to keep tastes whetted – rather than properly smothered.
