At a plenary session debate in Strasbourg on Wednesday 13 June, MEPs from all political groups called for a total ban on the domestic trade in ivory in the EU, to end elephant poaching.
The EU is the largest domestic ivory market in the world and is also the largest exporter of legal ivory; however, ivory from poaching often enters the legal market, making elephants a lucrative target for poachers, they stressed in the case they made to the European Commission, which they questioned about its plans to tighten up the rules on the ivory trade.
The MEPs also stressed that poaching has connections to corruption, organised crime, the financing of armed groups and murders of park rangers.
The EU banned imports and exports of ivory from and to Asia in 1975 and Africa in 1990. It has also strictly regulated trade on its market.
In May 2017, the Commission adopted guidelines to govern the ivory trade in the EU and the re-export of raw ivory, which has been banned since 1 July 2017 (see EUROPE 11789).
Unlike the United States, China, Hong Kong and, very soon, the United Kingdom, the domestic trade in ivory is still legal in the EU.
Every day, an estimated 55 elephants are killed by poachers, whilst the illegal trade in ivory has doubled since 2007. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)