In 1989, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) outlawed the international trade in elephant ivory, but various loopholes and exceptions have allowed a legal trade in ivory to continue. Conservationists maintain that this ongoing trade undermines the ban and helps fuel trade in illegal ivory. According to Will Travers OBE, President of Born Free Foundation, “Any commercial market for ivory offers an opportunity for illegal trade, because it’s difficult to regulate—is this piece legal or not? …And any trade is encouraging to poachers, who say ‘if there is a market, we are going to try and supply it.'”
Link: Deutsche Welle