New Delhi: The Bush administration told Congress yesterday that it would actively work to keep China’s 14-year-old domestic ban on tiger trade in place at next month’s meeting of 171 nations at the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) from June 2 to 15 in Netherlands.

Todd Willens, head of the U.S. CITES delegation, testified to the House Subcommittee on Natural Resources that the Untied States would work to persuade China not to lift the ban.

“It is critical that the United States and other important partners of China speak up for tigers at the CITES conference in June,” said Judy Mills of the International Tiger Coalition.  “It is even more important that countries with wild tigers, such as India, let China know how important its trade ban is for survival of their tigers.”

The Chinese government is expected to try to make its case for resuming trade to the international community at the CITES meeting.

“Reopening of domestic trade by China will very quickly wipe out wild tigers, since bones and other parts from farmed tigers would be far more expensive than obtaining them illegally from wild tigers. All it takes is less than a dollar for poachers to poison a tiger.” Ashok Kumar, Vice Chairman of Wildlife Trust of India, who will attend the CITES as part of the NGO coalition said.

“The stand taken by the US is most welcome and will greatly assist in conservation of wild tigers threatened by this trade.” He said.

Wealthy, well-connected investors behind “tiger farms” in China that breed tigers for profit are pressuring the Chinese government to lift its successful ban on the trade of tiger parts. These investors are stockpiling tiger carcasses in the hope that they can overturn the ban and rekindle demand for tiger bone medicine and other products made from tigers, which have been in decline since the 1993 ban went into effect.

The International Tiger Coalition, an alliance of 30 organizations representing more than 100 organizations across the globe has welcomed the US announcement.

The coalition has been working to put an end to tiger parts trade.  Members include conservationists, animal welfare groups, traditional Chinese medicine organizations and zoos.