(Recast) No decision yet on legalizing rhino horn trade: S. African minister

The South African government has not yet made a decision on legalizing trade in rhino horn, Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said on Thursday.

She was responding to reports that South Africa has decided to propose the legislation of the rhino horn trade to 17th Conference of Parties to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP17), which will take place in Johannesburg in September.

The minister said the cabinet appointed a Committee of Enquiry in 2015 to investigate, amongst other matters, the feasibility of a legal rhino horn trade.

The committee, she said, conducted public hearings and listened to the views expressed by those who needed to be heard and contribute to the processes towards decision-making.

The committee's report and recommendations were considered by the inter-governmental Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which made further recommendations to the Inter-Ministerial Committee established by the cabinet to provide guidance on this matter, Molewa said.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee met on March 8, and recommendations for consideration by cabinet have been formulated and will be considered in due course, she said.

"As is clear from the above, the process has not been concluded," she said, adding that the South African government will provide a report on the final cabinet decision once the process has been concluded.

South Africa, which is home to about 90 percent of the world's rhino population, imposed a moratorium in 2009 on rhino horn trading to curb poaching.

Last year, South Africa lost 1,175 rhinos to poaching.

Opponents to the ban say illegal poaching has increased since the moratorium was enacted in 2009, and argue throwing out the moratorium will discourage poaching. Enditem