CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- The South African government says it will press ahead with plans to sell 51 tons of ivory to China and Japan under a special exemption to the international ban on trade.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, last year said a handful of African countries with large stockpiles of elephant tusks would be allowed to make a one-off sale of ivory.

This was despite fears by some environmentalists that it might encourage smuggling and poaching.

South African wildlife experts visited China and Japan in September and said Thursday they were satisfied that both countries would meet the stringent conditions set by the international pact on trade in endangered species and would not re-export ivory to supply the black market.