Endangered species: ivory

A High Court challenge by dealers and collectors to a new UK law ushering in a near-total ban on the antique ivory has failed, but an appeal is possible.

The government does not have to “show a causal connection” between the UK’s trade in antique ivory and the poaching of modern ivory, a barrister representing DEFRA said in court today.

“No reputable dealer wants to see elephants dead” was among the opening remarks by the QC acting for a group of dealers and collectors challenging the Ivory Act 2018, at the High Court today.

Two men from south London have been sentenced for selling antique ivory fans on eBay to buyers in China and the US. The items were illegally exported without the required export permits.

A proposal to class the long-extinct woolly mammoth as ‘endangered’ in order to regulate trade in its ivory was withdrawn at the global CITES summit, pending further research.

The mammoth, a trunked animal species that last roamed the Earth 4000 years ago, may soon be classed as ‘threatened’ in order to regulate trade in the extinct mammal’s ivory.

US antiques dealers have been granted permission by a court judge to go forward with a lawsuit challenging New York's complete ban on the trade of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn, regardless of age, within state lines.

A High Court judge has given the go-ahead for a full hearing on the legality of the controversial Ivory Act, due to usher in a near-total ban on the UK trade in antique ivory when it comes into force later this year.

A consultation into the trade of non-elephant ivory has been launched to find out whether the government should take further action to restrict the trade in ivory.

A US court claim challenging a 2014 New York law banning the sale of antique ivory by the Art and Antique Dealers League of America and the National Art and Antique Dealers Association of America has been reinstated due to amendments made to the case.

There is one week left to take part in an industry survey aimed at measuring the financial impact of the Ivory Act (2018), due to come into force later this year. We hear from one of those who has already responded.

Industry trade bodies are today launching a survey that will attempt to measure the financial impact of the Ivory Act (2018) which comes into force later this year. Collectors, dealers and auctioneers of antique ivory are being encouraged to take part.

Art market trade bodies are commissioning a survey to assess the potential financial impact on buyers, sellers and collectors of antique ivory of a law that will usher in a near-total ban on the UK ivory trade.