Business as Usual: A review of the regulatory systems in Japan to control domestic trade in elephant ivory

The objective of this review is to re-examine the regulatory framework of Japan's domestic trade control over elephant ivory tusks and their products, as well as to deliver recent findings and new perspectives to the discussions at SC54, where Japan is proposing itself to be a designated a "trading partner" for the one-off ivory stockpile sales conditionally agreed in Santiago in 2002. A fact-finding trip in August/September 2006 was made by the author to collate the latest available information from relevant government agencies, NGOs that have engaged in this issue and other stakeholders in Japan.