Hawksbill and other marine turtles are currently listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. International trade in Hawksbill turtles for commercial purposes has been banned, following its inclusion on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) in 1975. The Japanese government ratified CITES in 1980, but entered a reservation on hawksbill and continued to import large quantities – approximately 30 tons by 1989, the equivalent of 30,000 individual turtles. But, as a result of persistent international criticism of continued trade, Japan withdrew its reservation on Hawksbills in July 1994. The import and export of Hawksbill turtles has been prohibited in Japan since then. There currently exists a registration system in Japan for whole carapace and stuffed turtles. Although seizures of illegally imported bekko by Japanese Customs are commonplace, Japanese enforcement does not adequately provent smuggling bekko into the country.

 The Japanese Government is now looking for ways to legalize trade in Hawksbill with Cuba. To this end the Japanese Government has spent state subsidy to:
            a) Encourage the bekko industry to carry out resource research in Cuba

            b) Encourage the bekko industry to carry out studies on activities aimed at down-listing the Hawksbill turtle at CITES

            c) Set up committees for lobbying at CITES

            d) Dispatch representatives of the bekko industry to international bodies relevant to CITES

       In order to improve the status of marine turtles, a number of improvements need to be made to governmental policy, legislation, and enforcement. For example, the registration system does not include all bekko products or all bekko trading businesses.The business registration system also does not cover the movement of bekko from raw material to finished product, and then to retail markets. More efforts must also be made to ensure that sufficient on-site inspections are made to guarantee that all traders are fulfilling their obligations properly. The government still has not banned the capture of turtles found in the waters around Japan.

Click here to view the "Summary Report of Migration to Illegal Market- Japanese market of Hawksbill turtle shell in a state of no control" (PDF)