日本的象牙贸易是一桩大产业，可得到监管了吗？ [美国媒体]

IVORY IS BIG BUSINESS FOR ONE OF JAPAN'S LARGEST ONLINE MARKETS, BUT IS IT REGULATED?

日本的象牙贸易是一桩大产业，可得到监管了吗？



SHREYA DASGUPTA 2017年8月12日

In just four weeks in May and June of 2017 nearly 10,000 ivory items were sold on Yahoo Auction, one of Japan's largest e-commerce platforms. 

仅仅在2017年5到6月的四个星期里，雅虎拍卖上就卖掉了10000件象牙制品。雅虎拍卖是日本最大的电商平台。

Thousands of jewelry, seals, scrolls, and other items made of elephant ivory continue to be sold online in Japan each week, concludes a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

据TRAFFIC组织（一个野生动物资源贸易监控网络）统计，每星期，日本市场都有数以千计含有象牙的珠宝饰品、印章、卷轴等物品被交易。

In just four weeks in May and June of 2017 nearly 10,000 ivory items were sold on Yahoo Auction, one of Japan's largest e-commerce platforms, researchers found. The ivory products included jewelry, hankos (printing seals used to sign documents, contracts, and other paperwork), scrolls, fans, chopsticks, teaspoons, and musical instruments. About 22 polished and carved elephant tusks were also advertised and sold during the survey period.

研究人员发现，仅仅在2017年5到6月的四个星期里，雅虎拍卖上就卖掉了近万件象牙制品。雅虎拍卖是日本最大的电商平台。这些含有象牙的商品包括珠宝、个人印章（在签署文件、签订合同和创作其他作品时使用），卷轴，折扇，筷子、茶匙和乐器。在调研期间，研究者还记录到22件抛光、雕刻过的整牙也经过广告宣传后卖掉了。

These four-week transactions amount to over $407,000, according to the report.

据报告显示，在四周的调研期中，交易额达到了40万7000美元（约人民币265万元）.

Hundreds of ivory products were also advertised on other popular e-commerce websites like Mercari, Rakuten-Ichiba, Rakuma, and Yahoo Shopping. An average of 143 new advertisements for ivory products were uploaded every week on Mercari, for example, which is Japan's leading online CtoC (Customer to Customer) market.

在其他的热门电商平台如Mercari、乐天、Rakuma和雅虎购物上，挂牌出售的象牙制品也有数百件。举例来说，在Mercari上，每周平均有143个象牙制品被挂出来交易。Mercari是日本二手交易平台的领头羊。

"While online ivory sales remain legal in Japan, the sheer scale of the trade warrants scrutiny to prevent illicit activities," the authors write.

“即便在线象牙交易在日本仍然合法，仅仅是这样的交易规模，就说明它需要得到仔细检查，以避免非法交易活动。”报告指出。

In the 1980s, Japan was the world's biggest ivory importer. Even after the global trade in elephant ivory was banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1989, Japan was allowed to legally import several tons of ivory twice: once in 1999 and then in 2008.

在二十世纪八十年代，日本是世界最大的象牙进口国。即便签署了1989年的《濒危物种国际贸易公约》（CITES），日本仍然两次允许合法进口了数吨象牙，一次在1999年，另一次在2008年。

However, recent reports by the Environmental Investigation Agency, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., have revealed that loopholes and weak legislations have prevented Japan from keeping illegal ivory out of its legal domestic ivory trade.

不过，根据位于华盛顿的非营利组织的最新报告显示，日本对非法进口象牙活动监管薄弱，漏洞百出，无法保证其合法的国内象牙交易没有被非法的外国象牙沾染。

"The proof of legality at the product level is delegated to a voluntary certification scheme for new products, and regulation over trade in any ivory items other than whole tusks is non-existent," the TRAFFIC team writes. "These grey areas in Japan's domestic ivory trade must be addressed accordingly to eliminate potential loopholes for illegal ivory flows."

“新造象牙制品的合法性证明只来源于自愿性的证书监管。而对于除了整牙以外的象牙制品的监管可以说是不存在。”TRAFFIC组织的调查报告这样说，“日本国内象牙交易的灰色地带必须得到合理处置，以消灭非法象牙流通的渠道。”

In June of 2017 the Japanese government updated its Law for the Conservation of the Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (LCES). It increased penalties for non-compliance and mandated ivory businesses to register all whole tusks in their possession, according to the report.

2017年6月，日本政府更新了国内的《濒危物种保护法》(LCES)。据报告，新的法规增加了对不合作的处罚，并强制象牙企业登记所有保有的整牙。

The updated regulations and improved monitoring by e-commerce companies might have resulted in improved compliance, the TRAFFIC team found. In 2017, about 88 percent of sellers on Yahoo Auction and 85 percent on Rakuten-Ichiba displayed compulsory business notification numbers. In a previous study conducted by TRAFFIC in 2014, only 11 percent of sellers on Yahoo Auction and 22 percent on Rakuten-Ichiba had displayed their numbers.

TRAFFIC组织认为，新的法规以及完善过的电商监管制度也许可以让市场秩序严谨。2017年以来，雅虎拍卖上88%的卖家和乐天上85%的卖家都显示了强制企业信息码。而在之前2014年的调查中，只有11%的雅虎拍卖卖家和22%的乐天卖家会显示此码。

However, all other domestic ivory trade remains weakly regulated. And the lack of regulation for ivory products other than whole tusks is making it difficult to identify and prevent illegal ivory trade, the authors write. On Mercari, for example, a few advertisements for ivory jewelry explicitly claimed that the products had come from Asia and Africa, making their sales illegal under CITES regulations. But the products' domestic sale in Japan remains legal under the LCES, the authors write, because Japanese law allows ivory products—except whole tusks—to be traded without any requirement for proof of legality.

不过，对于其余的国内象牙交易，监管仍旧薄弱。而对非整牙的象牙制品监管缺失，导致非法象牙贸易难以根除。在Mercari上，某些挂售象牙饰件的商家明确声称这些制品来自亚洲其他国家或非洲，只有整牙不作此声明，而其交易无需提供任何合法性证明。

These loopholes make it nearly impossible to confirm the origin of ivory products: whether they are legal items of pre-CITES origin or illegally obtained ones, the researchers say. The sellers, unidentified businesses and individuals who trade in auctions and on the CtoC market sites also currently remain outside the regulatory radar.

这些漏洞使得象牙制品的来源地无法确认。我们无法知道它们到底是CITES公约签署前流入的，还是之后非法流入的。而售卖这些制品的卖家、身份不明的组织和个人，无论在雅虎拍卖，还是在二手平台，都处于监管范围之外。

"TRAFFIC's findings highlight the need for the Japanese government to scrutinize all online ivory trade and to ensure effective enforcement of the strengthened ivory business regulations introduced through recent LCES amendments," Tomomi Kitade, program officer for TRAFFIC in Japan, said in a statement. "An urgent overhaul of Japan's ivory market oversight and regulation is needed to ensure it does not undermine the global fight against illegal ivory trade."

“TRAFFIC的调查结果表明，日本政府需要更仔细审查其国内的象牙交易，确保近期LCES法律修正后加强的象牙企业监管得到切实有效执行。”北出友美，TRAFFIC组织日本代表，在一份声明中称，“日本在象牙贸易上的失察急需得到彻查，才能确保日本不会损害到全球打击非法象牙交易的行动。”

In July this year, Rakuten-Ichiba—previously named the world's biggest online retailer of ivory—announced that it was banning ivory sale on its website. Sellers were given a one-month grace period for the withdrawal of ivory products that were already on sale.

今年七月，乐天——之前被认为是世界最大的网络象牙交易平台——宣称将禁止平台上进行象牙交易。商家有一个月的时间下架已经挂售的象牙制品。