Opponents to the resumption of this limited trade included dozens of so-called environmentalist organizations, all of which claimed that a renewed legal trade would encourage poaching and cheating in the entire process. The United States and other countries in Europe and elsewhere, similarly objected to the resumption, to no avail. Eugene Lapointe, president of the IWMC World Conservation Trust, and former CITES Secretariat, was present in Geneva when the decision was reached. He has announced that the historic Standing Committee decision was based on a cool-headed and unbiased evaluation of the facts of genuine compliance with the conditions necessary in each country. He noted that the African elephant, far from being endangered in southern Africa, is increasing to the extent that it has outpaced its habitat in many areas. This situation has been controlled by government culls of problem animals, as well as by strictly regulated (although small scale) trophy hunting. The ivory of various known origins has been stockpiled by the governments involved, whose officials are anxious that some revenue from the resource be realized, so that it can be re-cycled into national conservation programs for the benefit of both elephants and man. 

The ivory to be sold constitutes genuine by-products of elephant conservation, said Lapointe, who noted that in poor African rural areas, nothing is wasted by the people, who consume the meat from culled animals. Lapointe noted that there is no evidence of an increase in elephant poaching since the CITES decision to consider re-opening trade. The IWMC World Conservation Trust is an international organization that supports the science based, socially responsible sustainable use of natural resources.�