UK plans to extend ivory ban to antiques

A BAN on the sale of ivory in the UK is to be examined by the Government in a victory for the Duke of Cambridge’s campaign to halt the trade in endangered wildlife.

The proposal seeks to ban all worked ivory, regardless of date, with exceptions only for sales to and between museums, of musical instruments, items containing only small amounts of ivory, and items of significant historical, cultural, or artistic value.

The sale of raw tusks of any age and worked ivory from elephants killed after 1947 is already illegal.

The proposed extension of the ban to cover “antique” ivory has been urged by conservationists because they say it is used by poachers as cover for laundering tusks from elephants in Africa.

Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, said: “Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol – so we want to ban its sale. These plans will put the UK front and centre of global efforts to end the insidious trade in ivory.”

Britain is believed to be one of the biggest exporters to Hong Kong of historical ivory items, ranging from figurines to billiard balls.

Environmental charities say the trade is used by the criminal gangs involved in poaching to pass off “blood ivory” smuggled from Africa as legitimate imports from Britain.

Conservationists want the trade banned to help suppress a poaching crisis in which Africa’s elephant population has fallen by a third in less than a decade.

Charlie Mayhew, the CEO of Tusk, a conservation charity of which Prince William is the patron, said the group “broadly welcomed” the move.

“This is good news. It should end the trade where modern-day ivory is using the current legal trade in ivory as a cover. And I think that this will also be welcomed by the public,” he said.

A ban on historical ivory items has been opposed by many antique dealers, who fear it will criminalise the trade in antique items.

Several other countries, including the United States, have already introduced bans.