BADA

Victoria Borwick, Conservative candidate for Kensington and president of the British Antiques Dealers’ Association, has lost her seat to Labour after a third recount by a margin of just 20 votes.

The Conservative's 2017 manifesto launched this morning was dominated by Brexit, social care, education and cyber security but was without the party's intentions on controlling the UK ivory trade. This is in contrast to the 2015 version, which pledged an outright ban on trade in ivory.

The decision to delay and possibly shelve a requirement for businesses and the self-employed to file tax returns quarterly rather than yearly has been welcomed by dealer body BADA, which had lobbied against it.

The chief executive of BADA, Marco Forgione, has lobbied Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on imminent hikes to business rates and changes to tax reporting that are set to impact the trade.

The government remains open-minded on proposals to extend its planned ban on trade in post-1947 ivory to antiques with ivory dating before this time, despite pressure from some MPs to do so.

MP and BADA president Victoria Borwick has given a passionate defence of the antique ivory trade in Parliament, strongly arguing against a total ban.

The British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) has appointed Geoffrey Munn of Wartski as Chairman of Friends of the BADA Trust.

Efforts to protect the trade’s Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) against tax reforms gathered steam this week with the publication of a letter from three leading trade associations in the Financial Times.

The British Antiques Dealers’ Association is launching an ivory object certification system for its members, as one response to the government’s push for proof of age whenever pre-1947 worked ivory is sold.

Social media is a low risk, low cost outlet for dealers and auction houses to promote their wares.

Members of the British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) have voted in a slimmed down council, a move that is hoped will streamline decision-making and usher in an age of wider regional engagement.

The government is expected to announce that it will consult the antiques industry and other parties on the kind of proof that will be required to trade ivory pre-dating 1947, ATG has learned.