The Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking, a group that advises the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking, had a meeting in December 2013 to consider banning sales of all ivory, old or new. The ban would make scrimshaw, piano keys, ivory insulators on silver teapots, netsuke, and many other ivory pieces unsalable. It would mean huge losses to the antiques trade, collectors, and some industries. But the ban would only be in effect in the United States. The ivory trade could continue in Asia and Africa, where elephants are being killed. (See Maine Antique Digest, February 2014.) We recently wrote about a French piano in the United States that cannot be exported now under existing rules about ivory piano keys. And in Kovels Komments, Nov. 20, 2013, we reported that confiscated antique ivory, including carvings and other art, was crushed into bits by the U.S. government.
Photo: Joe Amon, The Denver Post
I have not looked at the Advisory Council actions, if any, but I did check into the comment about the law in California. DM1 could not be more wrong. Read here: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=55137&inline=1 for California law which mirrors Federal Law on the sale of old ivory. Fish and Game seems to have done something stupid in 2012. The owner’s ivory goods were eventually returned.
The Maine Antiques Digest story is pretty well balanced and emphasizes that these are possible outcomes. Perhaps folks should read first instead of spreading exaggerated stories.
What can we do about it? Is anyone/group starting a movement (writing/calling congress or something) that we may join and support? We eat meat and fish: it is “sinful” to waste the skin, teeth, etc. of animals slaughtered for food — it is in keeping with natural balance.
This has alreadey happened in California, “The Capital of Insanity”, where PETA, Environmentalists & Wackos run this beautiful state!! A law was passed in this state that no one can sell (PRE-banned) Ivory, Tortoise Shell, Feathers, Taxidermy & a whole list of items that are antique & vintage if they have any animal parts in or on them!
Wildlife, Fish & Game have gone into Antique Stores & literally confiscated under this little unknown law that is never repoted via the local liberal networks and legally stolen thousands of antique items from Dealers!!!! In CA it is ILLEGAL to sell any items with any animal parts. I hear thru the grapevine that these misguided idiots troll websites looking for people selling these kinds of items and then report back to the authorities who then round of the crew & go shopping for these items to be STOLEN from their owners! Amazing how after all these years it hasn’t stop the poachers from killing beautiful animals elsewhere in the world!
A total ban on sales of old/new ivory is just another example of govt intruding in private business/trade. Under the guise of reducing Wildlife Trafficking, a total ban directly affects the honest citizens’ civil right to earn a living wage selling legal goods. Will citizens who currently own new/old ivory now be considered law breakers if they sold it on Ebay? How far will they go?
People would do well to relearn the lessons of Prohibition. Whenever you ban a product, people will find a way around the law to meet the demand.
So, despite govt’s attempt at “helping wildlife trafficking”, they are in fact hurting the honest sellers. A total ban on sales in the US is NOT going to affect the real poaching problem in Africa.
Tthis has reached the point of being ridiculous. I can understand the need to stop poaching. I can’t understand the need to destroy historical and antique objects. A similar brutish mentality would be to pass a law requiring the burning of books which had historical references or themes which were representative of their times but no longer appropriate. I think the Nazi’s did that didn’t they, followed by George Orwell’s 1984?
I am as big a fan of wildlife as you’ll ever find, but this ban is really misguided. Human heritage is being threatened for a principle, but no valid reason. Banning and destroying all old ivory is akin to blowing up the Buddha statues in Afghanistan.
It would make more sense to go after the poachers in Africa and those who carve new ivory in Asia and elsewhere.
I am my mother’s only heir and will need to bring several old ivory items, including a mahjongg set from the 20s from France to the US at her death. I don’t know what I’ll do if I can’t import them or sell them. It would be barbaric to destroy these beautiful objects and not help any elephants. Let’s hope a sensible compromise can be reached.