Sec. 2. Findings and purpose
271 words·~1 min read·
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The Congress finds that— poaching of African elephants has increased dramatically since 2006, and has reached levels that threaten the continued existence of many elephant populations; poaching of African elephants is being driven by increased demand for ivory in Asia, which has caused ivory prices to rise exponentially in recent years; high ivory prices have drawn organized criminal elements into the illegal ivory trade, and it is widely recognized that transnational crime rings involved in trafficking in drugs, guns, and humans are also responsible for trafficking in large quantities of poached ivory from Africa to Asia; there is significant evidence that terrorist and insurgent groups in Africa, including groups with ties to al-Qaeda, are financing their operations through the sale of illegal ivory; the elephant poaching crisis has become so severe, and the tactics of poachers so sophisticated, that traditional approaches to conservation law enforcement intended to protect elephants in their habitat in Africa are failing; a number of countries that serve as major source, transit, or destination points for illegal ivory have proven unable or unwilling to stop the product from coming across their borders; and strategies to reduce demand for ivory through education and other nonbinding means are necessary, but not sufficient, to conserve African elephant populations.
The purpose of this Act is to provide a means by which the United States can affect demand for and illegal trafficking of African elephant ivory in other countries by requiring those countries to enter into consultations with the United States to end the illegal ivory trade, as a condition of continued access to United States markets for other natural resource products.