Opponents of opening up the trade argue it could lead to more poaching by criminal gangs seeking to launder "dirty" horns in clean markets.
Supporters of a regulated trade say it could stem poaching by bringing licit supplies directly to the source of demand. Currently that can only be met illegally.
The Swazi proposal seeks "a limited and regulated trade in white rhino horn which has been collected in the past from natural deaths, or recovered from poached Swazi rhino."
It also wants to sell horn "harvested in a non-lethal way from a limited number of white rhino in the future in Swaziland." Rhino horn grows back after it is cut off and the animals can be darted for such operations.