CITES

New rules governing trade in the parts of endangered species will hit the antiques trade harder than first thought.

New guidance from the European Commission has significantly tightened CITES rules, effectively banning the sale of a far wider range of antiques linked to endangered species.

RESTRICTIONS surrounding the export of rhino horn from countries within the European Union have been further tightened to include all items, whether or not they have been ‘worked’.

THE Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have issued further important guidelines regarding the sale of antique rhinoceros horn.

MOST antiques that include the “parts and derivatives” of endangered species enjoy an exemption from CITES controls known as the “worked item” derogation.

Could it be that common sense has broken out in the interpretation of the complex laws regarding the sale of antique rhinoceros horns?

THE controversial Treasury-led proposals to radically increase CITES licence charges will not come into effect until next year at the earliest. In some cases CITES permits, required for the export outside the European Union of antiques incorporating ivory and other elements of endangered species, are to rise from £7 for each permit (among the lowest in Europe) to as much as £59 (the highest).