Posted on 23 June 2025

The management of ivory stockpiles has received special attention from countries around the world. Resolution 10.10 from the 19th Conference of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) urged member countries to conduct inventories, assessments, reports, and management of ivory stocks in their national stocks. As a member country of CITES, Vietnam has issued a comprehensive legal framework to manage and report on wildlife specimen stocks in criminal proceedings. However, due to limitations in facilities for storage and scattered stockpile management among various agencies, this inventory and reporting still face many difficulties in implementation.

Many policies and actions to protect, conserve, and prevent illegal wildlife trade issued by the National Assembly and the Government of Viet Nam have met the requirements of state management and international commitments under CITES. However, the regulations have not been fully effective. Difficulties and shortcomings in practice have impacted on the effectiveness of management and handling of violations of the law related to wildlife in general, and the management and handling of specimens - including ivory.

Within the framework of the "Reducing the demanf for ivory" project with funding from the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) through WWF-Germany, WWF-Viet Nam has coordinated with the CITES Management Authority of Viet Nam to review current legal documents; conduct fieldwork and interview a number of stakeholders on the current status of ivory stockpile management in Vietnam. The study also summarizes the experiences of a number of countries in the region in the management and handling of ivory specimens. On that basis, the research team makes recommendations for the management and handling of ivory specimens in Viet Nam.