National Ivory Action Plan Process (SC79 Doc. 6.6)

The National Ivory Action Plan (NIAP) process remains a critical tool to combat illegal ivory trade and protect elephants. Established in 2013, the NIAP process requires countries to implement time-bound measures across legislation, enforcement, cooperation, awareness, and reporting. At SC79, EIA urges stronger action following findings from the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) report to CITES CoP20:

• Include the UAE as Category C in the process and require a National Ivory and Rhino Action Plan (NIRAP).
• Monitor China closely, given its ongoing role as a major ivory market.
• Escalate Angola from Category C to B and require a NIRAP due to persistent trafficking links
• Escalate Mozambique from B to A due to persistent trafficking links.

More than nine tonnes of seized ivory have been linked to the UAE between 2022-24. Over 23 tonnes of seized ivory have been linked to China since it exited NIAP in 2018. Mozambique has been implicated in 11 tonnes of ivory seizures between 2022–24, while Angola has been linked to eight tonnes of seized ivory in the same period. Urgent measures are needed to close loopholes and strengthen global enforcement against ivory trafficking.