EIA Praises Taiwan for Closing Its Domestic Ivory Market to Save Elephants

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) today commended Taiwan for committing to close its domestic ivory market starting January 1, 2020, thus eliminating another domestic ivory market in Asia.

Allan Thornton, president of EIA, said: "We welcome Taiwan’s ivory market closure announcement and commend Taiwan’s leadership in elephant conservation. Taiwan’s ban on ivory sales will help prevent a market shift to the island following the China ban which went into effect earlier this year.”

China and the United States have already enacted bans on ivory, and in Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore have announced plans to take steps to close their markets. EIA also welcomed yesterday’s announcement of a comprehensive ivory ban in the UK, one of the strictest bans to date.

At the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2016, countries agreed by consensus to close domestic ivory markets that contribute to poaching or illegal trade. Though not a member of CITES, Taiwan has been participating in the Convention as an observer through a non-government organization and working to fully comply with the requirements of CITES through corresponding domestic measures.

Thornton added: “To protect the world's elephants from the trade in ivory, it is essential that all domestic ivory markets are shut down, particularly those contributing to illegal trade and the poaching of elephants. We encourage other nations in Asia, especially Japan with its large ivory market and illegal trade issues, to take urgent steps to close their markets to protect elephants.

Press Contacts:

Amy Zets, Senior Policy Analyst (amyzets@eia-global.org)

Lindsay Moran, Head of Communications (lmoran@eia-global.org)