Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department plans to change its policy in respect of the representations made by the Republic of Zimbabwe for the lifting of the global ban on the ivory trade in order to sell £231 million of ivory.

We have no plans to change our policy regarding the sale of ivory. The international trade in elephant ivory is currently banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). A proposal has been put forward by a small number of CITES Parties, including Zimbabwe, for consideration at the 18th meeting of CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP) to resume international trade in ivory from these countries. These proposals will be subject to robust challenge at the CoP before any decision.