The 2016 CINOA Annual Conference and AGM takes place from Thursday June 23 until Saturday June 25 and is hosted by French association, the Syndicat National des Antiquaires (SNA), which rejoined CINOA in January after a 12 year absence.
In May French environment minister Ségolène Royal announced plans to push for “a ban on any kind of ivory trade in France,” a threat that attracted a unified protest by the country’s art associations.
UK dealer associations BADA and LAPADA will look to encourage overseas associations to lobby their governments on the ivory question. “On behalf of BADA members, I will be working with international colleagues to ensure they understand our position and will encourage them to lobby their politicians in advance of September’s CITES conference [in South Africa],” said Mark Dodgson, secretary general of BADA.
Rebecca Davies, chief executive of LAPADA, is also attending. “With important issues such as ivory and the cultural assets protection law on the agenda, this is an opportunity to understand how we can work together to effectively lobby on behalf of the trade both within the UK and internationally,” she said.
Also likely to be on the agenda is the so-called Affaire Jean Lupu, a growing scandal about fake furniture in the French market, which is now the subject of a police investigation.
A news report on discussions at the CINOA conference will be published at the end of this week. For the latest on the fake furniture allegations in France, see this week’s issue of the Antiques Trade Gazette.
