CITES meeting removes Thailand from its National Ivory Plan Process

BANGKOK, Oct 6 (TNA) -- The 17th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) resolved that Thailand would not have to propose its ivory action plan. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said the meeting set in Sochi city of Russia on Oct 1-5 removed Thailand and four other countries from its National Ivory Plan (NIAP) Process. The removal ended the requirement for Thailand and the four other countries to propose their ivory action plans to the CITES Secretariat. That resulted from Thailand’s successful solutions to ivory-related crime, legislation to protect African ivory and ban its possession, registration of elephants and searches at ivory shops, the department said. The other four countries removed from the NIAP Process are China, Kenya, the Philippines and Uganda. However, Thailand remains in the CITES Secretariat’s Category B covering countries markedly affected by illegal trade in ivory. (END)