Japan Yields to U.S. Pressure, Will Halt Trade in Endangered Turtles : Environment: Tokyo’s eleventh-hour decision to end importation of hawksbills by a ‘date certain’ stalls a ban on importation of all its animal products.

Averting an imminent showdown with the United States, the Japanese government bowed Friday to pressure from Washington and announced that it plans to end its trade in endangered hawksbill sea turtles, whose shells are used to make jewelry and eyeglass frames.

The action came after months of negotiations and just hours before the Bush Administration planned to impose a products ban on the import of all animal products from Japan. Administration sources said that the eleventh-hour decision evidently was prompted by Japan’s concern about the loss of lucrative pearl exports to the United States.

While environmentalists cheered the action, announced in Tokyo, Administration officials noted that the Japanese government did not specify exactly when the turtle imports would cease--stating only that trade would be halted by a “date certain.” Environmentalists who have been in contact with Japanese officials said that the date probably will be about 1994.

After officially receiving the Japanese statement Friday, President Bush informed Congress that he will take no action “pending an assessment within 30 days of the adequacy of Japan’s actions. . . .”

Administration officials said, however, that the United States will insist on an end to the trade no later than next March, when the signatories to an international accord on endangered species gather in Kyoto, Japan, to discuss its status.

Interior Department spokesman Steven Goldstein said that the Administration will give Tokyo 30 days to announce the date for ending the trade and to provide information on how many of the turtles Japan expects to import between now and the termination date.

Considered the most beautiful of all the threatened and endangered sea turtles, the hawksbills are believed by some biologists to be within several years of extinction unless the slaughter for their exquisite shells is ended.

“The hawksbill turtle, like the African elephant, has been pushed to the brink of extinction by ruthless over-exploitation for its products,” said Michael Bean, an attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group. “When Japan’s promised action takes effect, the hawksbill will face a more hopeful future.”

Found in the Pacific and Indian oceans and the warmer waters of the Atlantic, the hawksbill, whose shell grows to about three feet in diameter, is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species as well as by the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Of the 107 nations that have signed the international trade pact, Administration sources said, only two have remained out of compliance because of trade in the hawksbill turtle--Japan, as the major importer, and Cuba, which has continued to export.

Although there are no credible estimates of the number of surviving hawksbill turtles, it is believed that 15,000 to 25,000 females leave the ocean to nest on sandy beaches each year.

Since 1970, Japan is believed to have imported the shells of 1.2 million adult hawksbills, and an untold number of juveniles, from around the world.

After long, fruitless negotiations with Japanese officials, Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan and Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher formally certified to President Bush last March that Japan’s hawksbill trafficking was undermining the international agreement. That set the stage for the invocation of U.S. sanctions.

Sources privy to Administration negotiations with Japanese officials in Washington said that Japan resisted the demand to stop the trade on several grounds, citing the impact on Japanese workers, including elderly and handicapped jewelry makers.

About 1,400 Japanese are said to be employed by 113 “tortoise shell” businesses.

One apparent factor in Japan’s decision to relent is the scheduled meeting next year in Kyoto at which Japanese whaling and fishing practices are expected to be fiercely debated. Japan’s imports of hawksbill turtles had generated sentiment among some environmental groups for moving the convention to another country.

Although Administration officials and U.S. environmentalists said that they would prefer to see the trade end immediately, the Japanese promise to quit by a certain date was taken as a major step by a country constantly criticized for the activities of its fishing and whaling fleets.

“This is a banner day for worldwide sea turtle conservation,” said Robert Irwin, counsel for the National Wildlife Federation. “If the ban takes effect soon, Japan will have taken a giant leap toward becoming a responsible environmental citizen in the community of nations.”

THE ENDANGERED HAWKSBILL

The hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata , is the source of “tortoise shell,” or carey, valued for ornamental uses. Its eggs are also prized. It ranges widely through the tropical seas and oceans. In the Atlantic, it may be seen as far north as Massachusetts; in the Pacific, it is not found north of Mexico. Hawksbills generally have shells about three feet in diameter and weigh about 100 pounds.