| THE STATE OF THE TIGER | |
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International Trade
Despite the efforts of many countries, little progress has been made by the international community in curbing the sale of tiger products. While some countries have increased enforcement initiatives and improved legislation, others have blatantly ignored their responsibilities towards the range states such as India and taken a position to protect their traders rather than tigers. Tiger parts are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and most products offered for sale around the world state China as the country of manufacture. It is unknown if there are still factories manufacturing the products in China, but the availability of the products is still widespread. Tiger skins are also sold in some parts of the world, particularly in parts of Asia and the Middle East. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) adopted a strong resolution on the tiger trade at its conference in June 1997.1 Despite this, Japan announced to the CITES Standing Committee (the convention's managing body) in March 1998 that all its tiger products are now designated "pre-convention".2 The Japanese government and any observers of this issue know perfectly well that this is simply untrue. All tigers were listed on Appendix One (prohibiting international trade) in 1975, with the exception of the Siberian sub-species which was listed in 1987. Even Japanese statistics show massive imports up to 1993 when an import quota of 21.6 million capsules was set. Such open disregard for an international convention and the survival of a species presents serious questions about the international approach to the conservation of tigers. CITES is undermined and threatened by a department of the Japanese government which appears to care little about it's obligations and commitments under CITES or the impact on tiger conservation, loss of human life and the financial costs of its inactivity. Every day range states have to spend scarce money on anti-poaching measures as ill-equipped forest guards risk their lives against the poachers. Final responsibility for the tragic murders in the forests of India and other tiger range states rests with the consumers. Japan is the most blatant example of a failure to implement and enforce controls, but many other countries are also failing. Investigations undertaken by EIA and others over the last few years have uncovered illegal trade in tiger medicines and body parts. If EIA and other organisations can find these products so easily, then so can the enforcement authorities of these countries. |
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