(correction: the Meeting was June 24th, 2014)
Summary of June 24 House Subcommittee Hearing on Ivory Ban
There was a meeting where all the pro and anti ivory people sat around, talked to each other, sang kumbaya and basically nothing was accomplished. There were a lot of valid points made by both sides and the pro ivory forces made a good showing.
The EPA attorney stated, The Republican members tended to be skeptical of an ivory ban, and the Democrats tended to support it".
Here's a statement of David Hayes, Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking (anti ivory forces)
Hayes repeated talking points from the Advisory Council that have been reported on in detail in prior e-mails from us. Key differences:
• Smoothed over the number of elephants poached by saying 35,000 were killed in 2012 (WCF number) and 20,000 were killed in 2013 (CITES number)
• Hit “international crime menace” hard
• Credited Hillary Clinton for linking poaching to international crime and terrorism
• Emphasized that FWS is only “tightening up” already-in-place restrictions on commercial trade under the African Elephant Conservation Act and CITES (his interpretation is AECA would have barred import of antiques)
• Implied that FWS will be taking care of appropriate legal exceptions for pre-ban ivory and antiques in its upcoming rulemaking process
Here's the bottomline...
The attorney for the EPA (Elephant Protection Agency), the pro ivory group made the following statement:
"Hayes chimed in and said FWS will consider in its upcoming rulemaking ways to continue trade in pre-ban ivory and antiques, although it’s hard to take that comment seriously given the direction of the Advisory Council to date".
We've been saying that since February, 2014. Some people are slow.
Interstate pre ban ivory trading is still allowed as most every dealer we know is still marketing it. What does the future hold? After months of discussion with various agencies, individuals, FWS and our attorney, we simply cannot believe they will ban all ownership and sales of something that has been and continues to be perfectly legal. However, we do see at some point a law limiting interstate commerce of pre ban ivory whereas only intrastate commerce will be allowed. We can also be wrong and there may be no limitations in interstate trade. Time will tell.
We will keep you informed.
Summary of June 24 House Subcommittee Hearing on Ivory Ban
There was a meeting where all the pro and anti ivory people sat around, talked to each other, sang kumbaya and basically nothing was accomplished. There were a lot of valid points made by both sides and the pro ivory forces made a good showing.
The EPA attorney stated, The Republican members tended to be skeptical of an ivory ban, and the Democrats tended to support it".
Here's a statement of David Hayes, Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking (anti ivory forces)
Hayes repeated talking points from the Advisory Council that have been reported on in detail in prior e-mails from us. Key differences:
• Smoothed over the number of elephants poached by saying 35,000 were killed in 2012 (WCF number) and 20,000 were killed in 2013 (CITES number)
• Hit “international crime menace” hard
• Credited Hillary Clinton for linking poaching to international crime and terrorism
• Emphasized that FWS is only “tightening up” already-in-place restrictions on commercial trade under the African Elephant Conservation Act and CITES (his interpretation is AECA would have barred import of antiques)
• Implied that FWS will be taking care of appropriate legal exceptions for pre-ban ivory and antiques in its upcoming rulemaking process
Here's the bottomline...
The attorney for the EPA (Elephant Protection Agency), the pro ivory group made the following statement:
"Hayes chimed in and said FWS will consider in its upcoming rulemaking ways to continue trade in pre-ban ivory and antiques, although it’s hard to take that comment seriously given the direction of the Advisory Council to date".
We've been saying that since February, 2014. Some people are slow.
Interstate pre ban ivory trading is still allowed as most every dealer we know is still marketing it. What does the future hold? After months of discussion with various agencies, individuals, FWS and our attorney, we simply cannot believe they will ban all ownership and sales of something that has been and continues to be perfectly legal. However, we do see at some point a law limiting interstate commerce of pre ban ivory whereas only intrastate commerce will be allowed. We can also be wrong and there may be no limitations in interstate trade. Time will tell.
We will keep you informed.
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