No sooner had members of the Sustainable Use Community received unofficial word that The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was refused an invitation to attend the joint meetings of CITES’ Animals Committees, than the story behind the story broke. HSUS role as a would-be, behind-the-scenes character assassin of CITES member nations was exposed by the CITES Secretariat.

In preparation for the 16^th meeting of CITES’ Animals Committee (December 11 to 15, in West Virginia), Dr. Marinus S. Hoogmoed, the new chairman of the committee, requested all NGOs applying for observer status to forward credentials for his review. Midway through the process, sources determined that HSUS was refused entrance to the committee meeting for "filing false accusations about CITES member nations."

Within days, the CITES Secretariat issued its Notification 2000/060 explaining the mystery. HSUS was behind allegations first brought to the Secretariat about illegal trade in ivory between Namibia and Taiwan and Zimbabwe and China in exchange for military armaments and equipment including helicopters. The Secretariat worked in concert with CITES Management Authorities of China, Namibia, and Zimbabwe as well as with ICPO-Interpol, the World Customs Organization as well as other relevant organizations such as TRAFFIC International.

The value of the Ivory alleged to be involved in the illegal traffic raised suspicions within the Secretariat as the veracity of the HSUS charges because it would not have covered the cost of military helicopters. Pressed for HSUS for documentation it claimed to have about the transactions. HSUS refused. No evidence was found from any aspect of the investigation that substantiated the HSUS claims prompting the Secretariat to regard the HSUS-instigated allegations as "unfounded."

IWMC has learned that the United States, through its CITES Authority at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (US F&WS) is making its best endeavour to convince Chairman Hoogmoed to admit HSUS to the Animals Committee.

Like an incorrigible spoiled child who refuses to accept responsibility for untoward behavior or to be deterred by parental sanctions, HSUS has lashed out yet again. This time, HSUS has focused its penchant for smearing national characters on Japan.

HSUS has filed a petition with the U.S. Interior Department (the parent agency of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) seeking certification and official trade sanctions under the Pelly Amendment. The Pelly Amendment is an internal U.S. law that allows that government to use its considerable economic clout to force other nations to comply with international accords designed to protect endangered or threatened resources.

Prior to that country’s elections, U.S. President Bill Clinton threatened Pelly certification via the U.S. Commerce Department alleging violations against the International Whaling Commission (IWC), in relation with the perfectly legal Japanese whale research campaign. However, President Clinton let the deadline for imposing Pelly sanctions pass.

Unlike the Commerce Department charge, HSUS’ petition claims the Japanese research effort "diminishes" the effectiveness of CITES. In typical HSUS fashion, the anti-use NGO distorts the Japanese effort by maligning that nation and falsely suggesting that the overly plentiful sperm and minke whales are somehow "threatened" or "endangered." Reporters, government officials, and the public alike are never informed that the rationale for the IWC’s 1986 moratorium on whaling was prompted by a lack of research on whale species, precisely the type data the Japanese are attempting to provide.�