US Ban in Ivory - Not all bad news

T. Koch · 27th March 2014, 06:07 PM

Runjeet, that's a solid interpretation - it is not a ban on commercial trade as such - rather a restriction. The overarching goal here is to make sure that no items harvested and worked post-CITES finds commercial use, so only certified (pre-CITES/pre Appendix I listing of Afr. Elephant) can be found on the commercial market.

Personally, I think the restriction on the export of antiques sucks! The only sensible reason I can think of, is that very few CITES M.A.'s (nevermind customs agents) are capable of accurately dating pieces with worked ivory - even though they've often been taught the theory, they simply lack the foundation of reference experiences you accumulate from looking at a lot of old stuff. If the border check is not able to verify that the item in hand is the one on the CITES-export permit, there is a risk that new ivory will be whitewashed this way.

I would wildly speculate that this problem isn't super significant in the overall picture though. They are just speculations, as it's limited how much Elephant goes through our customs here in Denmark. We mostly see marine ivory due to our ex-colonial connection to Greenland.

I guess most of you already know, but I work at the office of the CITES M.A. in Denmark and have a pretty good idea of how the legislation works. If anyone needs any help, contact info for their national CITES-office, etc. feel free to write me and I'll hook you up!

Cheers, Thor

27th March 2014, 06:07 PM	#3
T. Koch Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Mother North Posts: 189	Runjeet, that's a solid interpretation - it is not a ban on commercial trade as such - rather a restriction. The overarching goal here is to make sure that no items harvested and worked post-CITES finds commercial use, so only certified (pre-CITES/pre Appendix I listing of Afr. Elephant) can be found on the commercial market. Personally, I think the restriction on the export of antiques sucks! The only sensible reason I can think of, is that very few CITES M.A.'s (nevermind customs agents) are capable of accurately dating pieces with worked ivory - even though they've often been taught the theory, they simply lack the foundation of reference experiences you accumulate from looking at a lot of old stuff. If the border check is not able to verify that the item in hand is the one on the CITES-export permit, there is a risk that new ivory will be whitewashed this way. I would wildly speculate that this problem isn't super significant in the overall picture though. They are just speculations, as it's limited how much Elephant goes through our customs here in Denmark. We mostly see marine ivory due to our ex-colonial connection to Greenland. I guess most of you already know, but I work at the office of the CITES M.A. in Denmark and have a pretty good idea of how the legislation works. If anyone needs any help, contact info for their national CITES-office, etc. feel free to write me and I'll hook you up! Cheers, Thor