Report shows Japan loopholes aid illicit trade in ivory
Source: AP
By ELAINE KURTENBACH
TOKYO (AP) — An undercover investigation by an environmental group has found loopholes and weaknesses that it says make Japan a weak link in efforts to curb a resurgence in the illicit trade in ivory.
The report released Thursday by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Investigation Agency, based on surveys during 2015 of ivory traders based in Japan, found that most were open about their ability to evade controls.
It said much of the ivory sold through online retailers based in Japan is going to China.
"What has happened is that the system has actually enabled and facilitated illegal ivory to get registered and come into the legal marketplace in Japan," said Allan Thornton, the EIA president. "The government of Japan has not met the legal obligations they agreed to in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species."
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FILE - In this May 29, 2015 file photo, ivory products that were seized after being smuggled into the country, are prepared for destruction during a ceremony in Beijing. An environmental group says an undercover investigation has found loopholes and weaknesses that make Japan a weak link in efforts to curb a resurgence in the illicit trade in ivory. It said much of the ivory sold through online retailers based in Japan is going to China.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/70ed5add377e4102b73e6098328fc0aa/report-shows-japan-loopholes-aid-illicit-trade-ivory
To Japan on this and the whale hunt...
