10/10/2017
Costs and benefits of a proposed ban on UK ivory sales (UK)
The majority of 1,600 or more UK antique dealers, 1,000 auction houses and 1,300 galleries – as well as museums, professional musicians and individual collectors, investors and inheritors – will potentially face lost sales and/or reduced stock value as a result of government proposals for a ‘total ban’ on UK sales of all ivory “that could contribute either directly or indirectly to the continued poaching of elephants”.
Whereas current rules allow worked ivory items produced after 3 March 1947 to be sold with a certificate and place no restrictions at all on items created before then, the proposed regulations apply – apart from 4 very tightly-defined exemptions – to worked ivory of all ages. They are therefore much stronger and likely to have a correspondingly greater impact on individual and institutional collectors.
The four categories of proposed exemption are
- musical instruments
- items containing only a small proportion of ivory, a de minimis exemption
- items of significant historic, artistic or cultural value
- sales to and between museums
The benefits of the proposals from environment secretary, Michael Gove, are that they would ensure the UK plays a world-leading role in ending the illegal trade in ivory that
- has reduced the world’s elephant population by a third in the past decade
- is continuing to be responsible for the slaughter of 20,000 animals a year
- could lead to elephants becoming extinct in some African countries within decades
As profits become even greater, the illegal trade has become a transnational organised enterprise, estimated to be worth £17bn pa.
In addition to leading to an online survey, ‘Banning UK sales of ivory’ links to the consultation paper, an accompanying letter and an impact assessment.