Delegates at the 16th Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) conference have threatened to hit Thailand with significant trade sanctions unless it ends its ivory trade within the coming year.
The CITES delegates singled out Thailand along with Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and China as countries integral to the trafficking and consumption of illegal ivory.
Saying that the delegation had “lost patience” with Thailand, CITES official Tom de Meulenaer named 2014 as the year in which sanctions could take effect. The proposed sanctions would outlaw all wildlife traffic with Thailand, including the country’s profitable trades in orchids and crocodile skins.
In a comment to the Guardian, top CITES investigator Tom Milliken described Thailand’s domestic ivory market as “a particular problem.”
At the outset of this year’s CITES conference, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra vowed to put an end to Thailand’s ivory trade, though, as reported by Coconuts, many conservationists have reservations about when that commitment will become a reality.
