Japan used to be the biggest market for illegal ivory trade, but now, China has taken its place.Since 2005, IFAW has been supervised the ivory market in China. According their survey report in 2011 covering 158 ivory processing factories and points of sales in Beijing, Guangzhou, Fuzhou and Putian, the black market of ivory in China was quite prosperous, with the result that the number of illegal companies was almost as twice as that of legal companies. Besides, in 2011, 4759 pieces of trunks had been confiscated throughout the whole world from April to September, which means that over 2000 elephants were slaughtered. The prices of ivory and ivory products are continuously running high, increasing by 3 or even 4 times. An informed source claimed that, the current situation was the flooding of illegal trade disguised under the legal market; China got the permission to import ivory from four countries in southern Africa, however, instead of slowing down the domestic illegal trade, it became a stimulant of new consumption.
As an open secret to insiders, even legal companies committed illegal business, like smuggling, without purchasing legal products supplied by the government. According to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), once a deal was made by sellers and buyers, no other application shall be made within the next ten years. Thus, the 62 tons of ivory purchased by four legal Chinese ivory companies, to a great extent, are the only possible legal resources in China’s market until 2017. Nevertheless, due to the exceptionally high price caused by long-distance delivery, health quarantine, storage and other aspects, most legal companies chose not to but these ivory materials, which, of course, suggested that these companies have other ways of purchasing materials.
It is said that more than half of legal ivory companies in China are involved in smuggling. But how can they protect themselves from being discovered? Here is their trick. Since the law has regulations only on the number of ivory products one company could produce per year, not specific restrictions on the weight of material of each product, of which these companies can take advantages. For instance, if a company is legally permitted to use 50 kilos ivory materials per year, it could produce 10 large works and several small works; nevertheless, it can add some illegal materials in those, and still produce 10 large works and several small works. As long as the total number of products is right, there is great room for such alterations.
Unfortunately, several surprise inspections conducted by the united forces of Forestry Bureau, Forest Public Security and Industrial and Commercial Bureau have all ended up with failures. “Forestry Bureau is short of staff, the Office of Endangered Animals has no power, Industrial and Commercial Bureau cannot confiscate, and Forest Public Security cannot just sit there and watch everyone.” An insider hit the point. Newly imported ivory materials make new troubles for supervision and regulation, but they further stimulate the consumption. Thus, the comprehensive ban of ivory trade is the only way to effectively crash the smuggling and poaching, so that endangered elephants have a chance to survive.
