Namibia has proposed to the 20th conference of the United Nations Cites a controlled commercial trade in its registered raw ivory stocks with verified international partners. The 20th Conference of Parties to the Convention to International Trade in Endagered Species (Cites) started in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Monday and will run until 5 December. According to the proposal seen by The Namibian and submitted by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Namibia seeks to trade in an existing stock of more than 46 000kg of registered raw ivory, which the country has accumulated from elephants that died of natural causes and through management practices. The proposal says partners receiving Namibia's ivory have been verified by the Cites secretariat as having sufficient national legislation and domestic trade control. This will ensure that ivory imported from Namibia will not be re-exported and will be managed following all requirements concerning domestic and manufacturing and trade.