US 'major illegal ivory importer'

The US has become a major importer of illegal ivory, according to a report from the British organisation Care for the Wild International (CWI).

The conservation group's assessment is based on more than 1,000 visits to shops by its investigators.

CWI also notes that the internet is an increasingly important conduit for the ivory trade.

Leading online auction site eBay has announced it will prevent ivory being traded internationally from its sites.

Its announcement followed an investigation by another conservation group, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), which recently documented the scale of ivory movements on eBay.

The CWI report was released here at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) summit.

The group's consultants Esmond Martin and Daniel Stiles visited shops in 15 US cities, finding more than 23,000 pieces of ivory on sale. They ranged from small trinkets costing about $50 (Å“25) to large sculptures priced upwards of $400,000 (Å“200,000).

With the exception of a small number of hunting trophies, any new ivory coming into the US must be an illegal import.

The international trade was banned in 1989 after indiscriminate hunting had halved the African elephant population in a decade.

The only legal exports from Africa since then involve a one-off sale of stockpiled ivory from Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe into Japan. But re-export from Japan is also illegal.

CWI is calling on US authorities to step up enforcement of international and domestic laws.

While applauding the efforts of customs forces to seize consignments of ivory, it says monitoring and enforcement at the retail level is virtually non-existent.

"I never spoke to a single shop owner who said anyone came to visit," noted Esmond Martin.

US assistant secretary of state Claudia McMurray admitted that local level enforcement might be lacking.

"If we catch it coming into the US then it's clearly illegal," she said, "but if it's in a state that doesn't have laws against the trade in ivory, then the chances are they won't have enforcement," she told BBC News. A second limited sale of stockpiled southern African ivory has just received final approval, and more are being sought at this meeting.

CWI chief executive Barbara Maas said the US findings suggested no more exports should be approved.

"We feel it's not safe to loosen trade restraints further," she told BBC News. "If [the importers] can evade customs forces even in a well-resourced country like the US, they can do it anywhere."

Tusks online

Following Ifaw's report on the internet wildlife trade, Bidding for Extinction, the organisation has been working with eBay to tighten things up. Ifaw found more than 9,000 wild animals and animal products on sale within a single week, and that from looking only at English language websites.

EBay has now responded by pledging to stop international sale of banned goods.

"It's the right thing to do," said Matt Halprin, eBay's vice president of policy management.

"By strengthening our policy we give sellers a clear and consistent policy that in turn provides confidence for those people who wish to buy legitimate and legal ivory items."

The company says it will take down any adverts featuring an international shipping option.

-BBC