Press Releases
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshiko ABE’s attendance
at the fourth International Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade
October 11, 2018
On October 11, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshiko ABE attended the fourth International Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) in London, the UK, and its overview is as follows.
- The conference was initiated by the UK to confirm the global community’s commitment to combat international crime related to IWT. The conference has been strongly endorsed by the British royal family, and His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge (Prince William) attended the opening session to emphasize the importance of this conference for IWT. Also, representatives from about 80 countries and international organizations attended to share their initiatives related to IWT.
- In her speech（Japanese (PDF)
／English (PDF)／Video
）, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshiko ABE explained the following initiatives as well as its strong commitment to combat illegal ivory trade, which is attracting global attention.
(1) Japan tightened regulations in domestic trade in ivory and ivory products in June this year. Japan intends to continue enforcing controls on domestic trade in ivory and ivory products on par with other major countries, in order to assist the conservation of elephants.
(2) Japan will assist range states in tackling anti-poaching measures for elephants. Affirming this stance, Japan hereby announces a new grant to enhance the ability to monitor and prevent poaching of elephants at the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique.
(3) Japan will increase collaboration with the global community to combat IWT. For example, Japan will co-host with the U.K. government in Southeast Asia, a capacity-building seminar on border controls to combat illegal wildlife and ivory trade. Moreover, we continue to cooperate with the Chinese relevant authorities including its customs to tighten border controls in order to combat illegal wildlife trade. - The declaration adopted at this Conference is as below