HANOI, Vietnam – Laos is playing an increasingly important role in the illegal international ivory trade with foreign tourists, particularly Chinese, driving growing demand for the substance, a report said Tuesday (July 10th), according to AFP.

The report, by wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, highlights a "significantly higher volume of ivory items openly on sale" in Laos and multiple seizures of African ivory heading to the country.

A TRAFFIC survey, carried out in August 2011, found 2,493 pieces of ivory, including jewellery, name seals and raw tusks, openly on sale in the capital Vientiane – up from around 100 ivory items seen on sale in 2002.

According to data from the Elephant Trade Information System, Laos was implicated as the destination in four large seizures made between 2009 and 2011, totalling more than four tonnes of ivory.

"Laos certainly functions as a transit point for ivory heading to China and Thailand, but it may also be emerging as a final destination (with a) growing market for ivory products," the report said, calling on the government to do more to crackdown on the illegal trade.