To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the 20-year moratorium on the trade of ivory proposed by the Governments of Kenya and Mali for the forthcoming UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference; and whether this proposal will have the support of UK delegates. (141255)

While I appreciate the reasons given for the proposed 20-year moratorium, I do not agree with the principle and the UK will therefore oppose the proposal. Such a position would be against the tenet of the Convention; that decisions are taken on the basis of the best available scientific and trade data available at the time. In practice, no worthwhile purpose would be served, as a moratorium could be reconsidered and reversed at any subsequent Conference of Parties.