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Marine Turtle Newsletter 54:17-21, © 1991

International Trade Aspects of the Japanese Hawksbill Shell ('Bekko') Industry

Jeffrey Canin
Greenpeace International, P. O. Box 51, Balmain 2041, Australia

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), adopted in 1973, has 110 Parties worldwide (TRAFFIC (USA) 1991) and has as its objective to protect certain endangered species from over-exploitation by means of a system of import/export permits (UNEP 1989). When Japan ratified CITES in 1980, it placed "reservations" on hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), green (Chelonia mydas) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles, effectively exempting itself from the ban on their trade (Wijnstekers 1988). Products derived from these species and imported by Japan have included raw scutes of the hawksbill turtle, commonly called "tortoiseshell" (or, "bekko" in Japan); a lesser amount of green turtle shell; skin from olive ridley and green turtles; stuffed juvenile greens and hawksbills; and sea turtle meat. Japan is by far the largest importer of sea turtle products in the world. Although there have been efforts to reduce this trade, no other CITES endangered species (species listed on Appendix I of the Convention) are traded so often or in such volume as are the sea turtles (Weber et al. 1983).

Articles of bekko manufactured in Japan once formed part of traditional Japanese dress. Today, however, the majority of bekko products on sale are jewelry of modern design linked to tradition only in the methods of manufacture. The products, which are very expensive, range from necklaces, brooches and cufflinks, to shoehorns, sailing ships and items such as cigarette lighters and key rings. All cater to a luxury market. With the rapid increase in wealth following Japan's emergence as a major economic power, bekko products are accessible to an increasing number of Japanese.

Before Japan joined CITES, approximately 40 tonnes [=4,000 kg] of bekko were imported each year. As a concession to the Appendix I listing of the hawksbill, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) imposed a 30 tonne import quota restriction. This quota represented an arbitrary reduction from previous levels and was not based upon biological data. From 1970 to 1990, Japan imported a documented 752,620 kg of bekko (an average of 37,631 kg/yr), representing approximately 710,000 hawksbills (Milliken and Tokunaga 1987, updated by Greenpeace to 1990). In addition, 587,000 stuffed hawksbills and approximately 400,000 stuffed green turtles have been imported (1970-1987), as has the skin and leather from 568,000 olive ridleys (1970-1988). In total, since 1970, Japan has imported sea turtle products representing a minimum of 2,250,000 sea turtles.

This paper will show that a large proportion of the bekko trade to Japan is in breach of domestic legislation in the countries of origin. Furthermore, these products are reported as coming largely from a few countries which clearly do not have the hawksbill populations necessary to supply the amounts of shell detailed in the Japanese import statistics. The conclusion can only be that large scale re-routing of shell is occurring. Since 1970, 60 countries have been involved in the export or re-export of bekko to Japan. The principal exporters have been Panama, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Honduras, Belize, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Tanzania, Kenya, Maldives, Comoros Islands, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and the Netherlands (Milliken and Tokunaga 1987). Much of the trade has been in breach of CITES Resolution Conf. 4.25 passed in 1983, which requires valid CITES export documents for trade under reservations (Wijnstekers 1988).

In 1987, the bekko industry agreed to stop importing from CITES Parties (Toru Takimoto, MITI, in litt. to Swiss Management Authority, October 1990), and subsequent Japanese import statistics have reported bekko as originating solely from non-CITES countries or CITES Parties with reservations. Another positive development has been the Japanese Government's decision in 1989 to disallow the imports of bekko from countries where such exports are in breach of domestic legislation protecting sea turtles. Nonetheless, 1990 exports from Mexico, the Maldives, the Comoros Islands, Barbados, Haiti, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Vincent, and Grenada continue to violate domestic legislation, either because such exports are prohibited or because they are occurring without proper permits.

Of the 15 countries reported to be exporters of bekko in the Japanese import figures for 1990 (Table 1), few outside of the Caribbean have been adequately surveyed for sea turtles. In other words, there are virtually no data with which to evaluate whether or not wild populations can sustain the level of exploitation. The most intensive studies were undertaken for the Second Western Atlantic Sea Turtle Symposium (WATS II) held in Puerto Rico in 1987. The National Reports submitted to this regional Symposium by Government representatives detailed very low levels of nesting activity by hawksbill turtles. Most Wider Caribbean countries receive fewer than 100 nesting females per annum (Meylan 1989). Groombridge and Luxmoore (1989) of the IUCN Conservation Monitoring Center recently reviewed the global status of the hawksbill and concluded that of the 65 geopolitical units where estimates of relative hawksbill nesting density exist, 18 hawksbill populations have experienced "well-substantiated declines" and an additional 38 are suspected or known to be in decline. Out of concern for the survival of the hawksbill populations in its waters, the Government of Fiji recently announced a ban on the export of hawksbill shell after 1 January 1991 (Daly 1991).

Table 1. 1990 Japanese bekko import statistics.

The depleted nature of the Caribbean populations of hawksbills in particular was recognized recently by a Meeting of Experts for the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife Protocol to the Cartagena Convention, the UNEP Regional Seas agreement in the Wider Caribbean. The Meeting recommended to Convention Parties that all sea turtle species occurring in the region be placed on Annex II of this Protocol (Eckert 1991). Such designation would require all Parties to "ensure total protection and recovery to the species of fauna listed in Annex II by prohibiting: (i) the taking, possession or killing (including, to the extent possible, the incidental taking, possession or killing) or commercial trade in such species, their eggs, parts or products; (ii) to the extent possible, the disturbance of such species, particularly during periods of breeding, incubation, estivation or migration, as well as other periods of biological stress." [Six species of sea turtle have now been included on Annex II; see Eckert, this issue].

It is clear, based on data presented at WATS II, that some currently exporting Caribbean countries simply do not have the turtle populations necessary to supply large amounts of bekko; for example, Antigua & Barbuda. In these cases, is it feasible to regard the Japanese import statistics as being a true reflection of the origin of the shell? In the past, changes in the import statistics provoked suspicion that documentation accompanying the shipments had been falsified to reflect a better implementation of CITES on the part of Japan. In the 1980's, the pattern of trade as reported by Japanese import statistics began to change and the number of CITES Parties exporting shell to Japan decreased. However, this change is to some extent misleading and, certainly in the Caribbean, the trade was most likely re-routed through non-CITES Parties. Significantly, the overall proportion of Japan's bekko imported from the Caribbean remained constant at approximately 50% of the total (Milliken and Tokunaga 1987).

Since the 1970's, Japanese Customs import statistics point to the role of certain countries as entrepots for bekko collected throughout the Caribbean. Four major exporters, Panama, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Haiti provided three quarters of Japan's imports of bekko from the region during this period (Donnelly 1989). Only Cuba and Panama could possibly have exported bekko principally from domestically caught hawksbills, as the others do not have the turtle populations requisite to support these quantities. Few data are available from Cuba, but of the remaining three countries, only Panama has had substantial populations of hawksbills in its waters in recent years. Yet even there, it appears that bekko from neighbouring countries was funneled through Panama to Japan. According to Japanese import statistics, Panama supplied 15% of Japan's total imports between 1970 and 1986, representing more than 80,000 hawksbill turtles. Recent studies have found that the numbers nesting on the principal hawksbill nesting beach in Panama are now only a fraction of what they once were (Anne Meylan, pers. comm., 1990). Although Japanese customs data do not show any imports from Panama after 1986, investigations have revealed that the trade is continuing. On 24 October 1988, a shipment of bekko to Japan was discovered by the Panamanian authorities. It was labelled as "Shell materials" with instructions not to pass through any USA ports.

Additional examples of the re-routing of shell involve Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Vincent. There are relatively few resident hawksbills in the Cayman Islands, a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, yet from 1970 to 1982 the islands were a major supplier of bekko to Japan, exporting the equivalent of 27,590 hawksbills. Although CITES came into force in 1979, it was not until 1984 that this trade to Japan finally ceased. In March 1989, Japanese customs reported a resumption of illegal shipments of bekko from the Cayman Islands. Examination by the authorities in the Caymans revealed that the origin of the shell was Mexico. Furthermore, this shipment travelled through two central American countries and Spain en route to Japan (I. Muchmore, U. K. Management Authority, in litt. to Greenpeace U. K., 8 May 1990).

In the period 1970 to 1985, the average exports of bekko from Jamaica to Japan were 756 kg. In 1986, Honduran exports of bekko dropped from approximately 2,000 kg to zero, while those from Jamaica increased by a similar amount. In 1987, exports from Belize (which are believed to originate mostly in Honduras) dropped a further 2,000 kg, and Jamaican exports increased by this amount yet again. At WATS II, Cruz, Espinal and Erazo estimated that 5,000 hawksbills were being killed annually for their shell in Honduran and Nicaraguan waters by Honduran lobster fishermen. As Japan has not recorded any imports of bekko from Honduras since 1985, this shell is likely to be transshipped through one of the entrepots mentioned above.

Shipments of bekko from Antigua & Barbuda have been recorded in Japan's customs figures since 1983 (Milliken and Tokunaga 1987), yet Antiguan authorities deny any knowledge of this trade and insist that no permits for exports of bekko have been issued (John Fuller, pers. comm., 1989). Bekko has been exported from St. Vincent since 1973 but, again, no recent export permits to Japan are said to have been issued (Kerwin Morris, pers. comm., 1990). Re-routing appears to be the only explanation available to explain why imports in 1990 from both Antigua & Barbuda and St. Vincent suddenly increased to >1,000 kg from former levels in the low hundreds of kilos.

Other doubtful sources of bekko are seen in data from Asia. Since 1985, the rise in exports from Singapore matched the decline of imports from Indonesia, the latter a CITES Party. In 1987, Singapore joined CITES and, corresponding to its disappearance from the import statistics, exports from Brunei began to increase. In 1989, Japan imported over 2,000 kg from Brunei with 1990's figures even higher. Given its geographical proximity, it is most likely that the origin of the bekko imported from both Singapore and Brunei is Indonesia.

To the extent that Appendix I listing of sea turtles has been unsuccessful in stopping international trade in sea turtle products, Japan bears the major responsibility because of its continuing trade under reservations. Although this trade is not always in contravention of CITES, it has instigated a vast laundering operation in which hawksbills are caught in the waters of CITES Parties and then illegally transshipped through non-CITES Parties. This clearly undermines the spirit and effectiveness of CITES. The alarmingly low number of female hawksbills nesting annually in the Caribbean, coupled with the high level of Japanese imports of bekko from the region, gives considerable cause for concern. Local attempts at implementing CITES and conserving sea turtles are undermined by this trade.

The Comoros Islands, Maldives, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands are bearing the brunt of the Japanese trade outside the Caribbean, yet in no case has any basic research been done to establish the survival status of remaining populations. Throughout Indonesia huge numbers of hawksbills are killed and the bekko stockpiled in the hope that legal trade with Japan will resume [see Barr, this issue]. It cannot be denied that bekko, like ivory, supplies a luxury market of non-essential and expensive consumer goods. It is time for Japan to display a responsibility commensurate with its position as the world's leading economic power, and curb the excesses of environmental abuse amplified by its new-found wealth.

As long as the Japanese Government maintains its reservations for sea turtles under CITES and thereby continues to trade in these species, illegal trade (such as that documented above) will continue to besmirch Japan's image in the world community. As host to the next CITES Conference of Parties, this is hardly the image that the Japanese Government should wish to portray. If reservations are not withdrawn, and hawksbill shell imports do not cease, it is inescapable that Japan will bear near full burden for the global decimation of the hawksbill sea turtle. [Japan has agreed to end its hawksbill trade; see Donnelly, this issue -Editors]

Daly, T. 1991. Fiji bans export of turtle shell. Marine Turtle Newsletter 52:1.

Donnelly, M. 1989. Socio-economic importance of sea turtles: international trade in tortoise-shell, p.38-49. In: Proc. Second Western Atlantic Turtle Symposium 12-16 October 1987, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (L. Ogren, Editor-in-Chief). NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFC-226. Panama City, Florida.

Eckert, K. L. 1991. Sea turtles recommended for protection in the Caribbean. Marine Turtle Newsletter 52:30.

Groombridge, B. and R. Luxmoore. 1989. The Green Turtle and Hawksbill (Reptilia: Cheloniidae): World Status, Exploitation and Trade. Secretariat of CITES, Lausanne. 601 p.

Meylan, A. 1989. Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) Status Report, p.101-115. In: Proc. Second Western Atlantic Turtle Symposium 12-16 October 1987, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (L. Ogren, Editor-in-Chief). NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFC-226. Panama City, Florida.

Milliken, T. and H. Tokunaga. 1987. The Japanese Sea Turtle Trade 1970-1986. A Special Report prepared by TRAFFIC(Japan) for the Center for Environmental Education, Washington D. C. 171 p.

TRAFFIC(USA). 1991. 110 countries now Party to CITES. TRAFFIC(USA) 11(1):8.

UNEP. 1989. Register of International Treaties and Other Agreements in the Field of the Environment. UNEP/GC.15/Inf.2. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi.

Weber, M., E. Roet, P. C. Escherich, R. E. McManus, and J. Teeple-Hewes. 1983. Sea Turtles in Trade: An Evaluation. Ctr Environmental Education, Washington D. C. 38 p.

Wijnstekers, W. W. 1988. The evolution of CITES. A reference to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, revised edition. CITES Secretariat, Lausanne.