We have to celebrate the efforts Thailand is making in tightening their legislation on illegal ivory trade and ivory product to be in line with the Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)!
The National Ivory Act 2015 aims to regulate and control the ivory trade, movement and possession in Thailand.
Some of the changes included in the National Ivory Act 2015 are (DLA Piper, 2016):
- Certification and proof of legal possession of domesticated elephant ivory and ivory products sold or brought into Thailand
- It is still illegal to export products anywhere
- Inclusion of African elephants as protected species because previously, only wild elephants are protected
- Improvements in registration and monitoring of ivory obtained from domesticated elephants
Because of the amendments in the National Ivory Act 2015, the law in Thailand now protects wild, domesticated and African elephants in varying degrees. This is unlike the unfavourable law which only protected Wild elephants in Thailand as they are categorized as “protected species”.
Any improvement is better than no improvement and I hope that changes occur for the better!