INCREASED ILLEGAL TRADE IN IVORY LINKED TO NOVEMBER CITES MEETING?
On 26 September Chinese custom officials found a major shipment of illegal ivory at Waigaoqiao Port. The shipment, which came from Mombasa, Kenya contained 3.6 ton of illegal ivory, hidden under wood boards. The Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) believes that, although the shipment came from Kenya, the ivory does not stem from poached Kenyan elephants, but rather that Kenya has only been used as a transit point. KWS reports that over 16 tons of African ivory has been seized this year, which is the largest volume ever. Conservation groups fear that this increase is linked to the 12th Conference of the Parties to CITES, which will be held in November 2002. In the lead up to the COP several African countries have filed proposals to reopen legal ivory trade by allowing the export of specific quantities. WWF and African conservation groups are concerned that if these proposals were approved at the COP meeting, the illegal trade in ivory would increase, regarding the discovery in China as an example of this. They therefore urge countries to instead support a proposal from India and Kenya, which would protect all African elephant populations, as they would be listed under Appendix I of CITES. Most African elephant populations have been listed under Appendix I of CITES, which prohibits all trade of elephants or their parts. However elephants in Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa are listed under Appendix II of CITES, which allows the countries to trade a limited certified amount of ivory. Dr Kahumbu, CITES coordinator for the Kenya Wildlife Service said:" If the ivory trade re-opens [after the CITES meeting], there will be a greater incentive to poach and deal in ivory".
ICTSD reporting; "Tons Of Illegal African Ivory Seized In China," ENS, 1 October 2002.
PERUVIAN COFFEE FARMERS PEG HOPES ON FAIR TRADE
Peruvian farmers in Alto Incariado have pinned their hopes on growing "fair trade" coffee that bears a seal telling consumers that their more expensive coffee was not produced at the expense of farmers’ wages or labour rights, the environment, or child labour. The Fair Trade Labeling Organisation (FLO), the largest fair trade certifier, buys the coffee from producers at about USD1.26 per pound, more than twice the price of coffee futures in New York. As a result, the Peruvian farmers can make up to 30 cents more per pound of coffee. Despite significant growth — some 12 percent in 2001 — the fair trade product only accounts for less than one percent of world sales. Such increases in growth are important to farmers as over 20 million coffee producers around the world depend on the price of coffee which at a 30-year low has decreased by almost 50 per cent in the past three.
"Peru jungle farmers raise cups to fair trade coffee," REUTERS, 27 September 2002..
PATENTS THREATEN TK HOLDERS’ LIVELIHOODS IN ASIA, REPORT SAYS
Transnational corporations (TNCs) and national governments in their attempt to commercialise plant genes for profit are "destroying a wealth of genetic resources and livelihoods" throughout Asia, according to a new report released by the Barcelona-based group Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN) and the Indian environmental organisation Kalpvriksha. These activities are contributing to a dramatic pace of extinction whereby both plants and major drugs are being lost while "communities are increasingly losing control over their own plants and are being increasingly exploited for their knowledge." For example, efforts by a number of US corporations to obtain patents for products to be derived from the neem tree - used in India as a fungicide for more than 2000 years - is causing alarm and protest among local and international NGOs, who say that intellectual property rights permit owners "to exclude others from access to or use their property". Such a system is inappropriate for traditional knowledge holders who own/use the goods in questions in a collective nature making it impossible to determine individual inventors or geographical locations, the report stresses.
"Scramble for Green Gold Kills Asian Biodiversity," ENS, 2 October 2002.
US ORGANICS TO BE CERTIFIED
Beginning on 21 October, it will become mandatory for all American producers that sell more than USD 5,000 a year in organic agricultural products to seek certification from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to sell, label or represent products as organic. Former Agricultural Secretary Dan Glickman believes the new USDA certification process to be the "strongest and most comprehensive in the world." Foreign goods will also be required to meet the same standards to be classified as organic through a certified agency recognised by the USDA or through an equivalent program approved by the department. The USDA scheme will consist of three types of labels certifying products as: (1) ‘100% Organic’, (2) other ‘Organic’ goods containing 95 percent organically produced ingredients, (3) and ‘Made with Organic Ingredients’ which must contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients. Only the ‘100% Organic’ or ‘Organic’ products will be permitted to affix the USDA Organic Seal. Some see this new formalization as a "boost" to the organic sector that, while relatively new, has grown at least 20 percent annually for the past ten years.
"Organic Foods to Get New Seal of Approval," ENS, 2 October 2002.