When we proposed the gram limit we had a particular suite of items in mind. The following types of items may qualify for the de minimis exception: many musical instruments including many keyboard instruments, with ivory keys, most stringed instruments and bows with ivory parts or decorations, and many bagpipes, bassoons and other wind instruments with ivory trim ; most knives and guns with ivory grips; and certain household and decorative items including teapots with ivory insulators, measuring tools with ivory parts or trim, baskets with ivory trim, walking sticks and canes with ivory decorations, and many furniture pieces with ivory inlay, etc.
However, to qualify for the de minimis exception, all of the above criteria must be met either i or ii and iii - vii. To view examples of items that may meet de minimis criteria, click here. Asian elephant ivory items do not qualify for the de minimis exemption. Examples of African elephant ivory items that we do not expect would qualify for the de minimis exemption include chess sets with ivory chess pieces both because we would not consider the pieces to be fixed or integral components of a larger manufactured item and because the ivory would likely be the primary source of value of the chess set , an ivory carving on a wooden base both because it would likely be primarily made of ivory and the ivory would likely be the primary source of its value , and ivory earrings or a pendant with metal fittings again both because they would likely be primarily made of ivory and the ivory would likely be the primary source of its value.
To qualify for the de minimis exemption, an item must be made of African elephant ivory and must meet the criteria provided above. We consider an item to be made wholly or primarily of ivory if the ivory component or components account for more than 50 percent of the item by volume. Likewise, if more than 50 percent of the value of an item is attributed to the ivory component or components we consider the ivory to be the primary source of the value of that item.
Though not required, a qualified appraisal or another method of documenting the value of the item and the relative value of the ivory component, including, information in catalogs, price lists, and other similar materials, can also be used. We will not require ivory components to be removed from an item to be weighed.
A piece of ivory that weighs grams is slightly larger than a cue ball. The gram limit is large enough to accommodate the white key veneers on an key piano. Click here for photographs of ivory items of various weights.
These photographs are only intended to illustrate the size of g of ivory. To qualify for the de minimis exception, an item would need to meet all of the criteria listed above. Antiques that meet these criteria ESA antiques are exempt from ESA prohibitions and the provisions in the African elephant final 4 d rule. ESA antiques may be sold in interstate and foreign commerce and may be imported or exported without the need for an ESA permit.
In addition, the moratorium on import of African elephant ivory under the African Elephant Conservation Act remains in effect for antiques and other African elephant ivory other than sport-hunted trophies.
How do I demonstrate that my ivory item meets the criteria to qualify for the ESA antiques exemption? Under the ESA, a person claiming the benefit of the antiques exemption has the burden of demonstrating that the item qualifies for the exemption. We want to clarify that forensic testing is not necessarily required. Provenance and age may be determined through a detailed history of the item, including but not limited to, family photos, ethnographic fieldwork, art history publications, or other information that authenticates the article and assigns the work to a known period of time or, where possible, to a known artist or craftsman.
A qualified appraisal or another method, including using information in catalogs, price lists, and other similar materials that document the age by establishing the origin of the item, can also be used. Worked items include carvings and components of larger finished products such as knife handles, billiard cues, musical instruments and furniture. Raw ivory means an elephant tusk, or any piece of tusk, the surface of which, polished or unpolished, is unaltered or minimally carved, including ivory mounted on a stand or part of a trophy.
An item that contains African elephant ivory that was removed from the wild prior to February 26, , is considered to be a pre-Convention specimen. This does not mean that the current owner must have purchased or acquired it prior to , but that the item was manufactured from ivory that was taken from the wild prior to For example, a musical instrument that was manufactured in using African elephant ivory would be considered a pre-Convention specimen.
Likewise, an instrument manufactured in using ivory acquired by the manufacturer in would also be considered a pre-Convention specimen.
Since it is unlawful to possess specimens that have been traded contrary to CITES or taken in violation of the ESA, the ivory must have been legally acquired. A CITES pre-Convention certificate can be issued for specimens that were taken from the wild before the species was listed under CITES in order to authorize export or re-export, provided certain criteria are met.
For the African elephant, the pre-Convention date is February 26, For the Asian elephant, the pre-Convention date is July 1, It is not necessary to apply for a CITES pre-Convention certificate unless you are seeking authorization to export or re-export an item.
If you wish to import an item into the United States, this authorization must be obtained from the exporting country. Specimens e. To qualify as pre-Act, a specimen must:. Trilateral Committee U. I own elephant ivory.
What can I do with it? Note: This table is for guidance only. Worked and raw ivory as law enforcement and genuine scientific specimens. Worked ivory that was legally acquired and removed from the wild prior to February 26, and is either: Part of a household move or inheritance; Part of a musical instrument; or Part of a traveling exhibition. Raw ivory regardless of age except for sport-hunted trophies, law enforcement and genuine scientific specimens.
Worked ivory that was legally acquired and removed from the wild prior to February 26, , and is either: Part of a household move or inheritance; Part of a musical instrument; or Part of a traveling exhibition; Worked ivory that qualifies as pre-ESA.
Worked ivory as law enforcement and genuine scientific specimens. Certain manufactured or handcrafted items that contain a small de minimis amount of ivory. Noncommercial movement within the United States Noncommercial use, including interstate and intrastate movement within the United States, of legally acquired ivory is allowed. Personal possession Possession and noncommercial use of legally acquired ivory is allowed.
Certain noncommercial imports are allowed when specific criteria are met: You may import a worked African elephant ivory item into the United States for the noncommercial purposes listed below if it was legally acquired and removed from the wild prior to the listing of the African elephant under CITES February 26, : sport-hunted trophies limited to two per hunter per year. The import of raw African elephant ivory is prohibited except: as part of a lawfully taken personal sport-hunted trophy limited to two per hunter per year , law enforcement specimens, or genuine scientific specimens.
OR It was legally acquired and removed from the wild prior to the listing of the African elephant under CITES, February 26, , and is being exported as: part of a household move or inheritance, or part of a musical instrument or as part of a traveling exhibition. To qualify as pre-Act, a specimen must: Have been held in captivity or in a controlled environment prior to December 28, , or prior to the date of first listing under the ESA; and Such holding or use and any subsequent holding or use was not in the course of a commercial activity.
OR Exports of law enforcement and genuine scientific specimens may be authorized. If the bow meets the requirements for the de minimis exception, including that the ivory was removed from the wild prior to February 26, , and that the total weight of the ivory is less than grams you will be able to sell it in the United States.
To qualify as pre-Act, under section 9 b 1 of the ESA, a specimen must: Have been held in captivity or in a controlled environment prior to December 28, , or prior to the date of first listing under the ESA June 14, for the Asian elephant ; and Such holding or use and any subsequent holding or use was not in the course of a commercial activity.
To qualify as pre-Act, under section 9 b 1 a specimen must: Have been held in captivity or in a controlled environment prior to December 28, , or prior to the date of first listing under the ESA June 14, for the Asian elephant ; and Such holding or use and any subsequent holding or use was not in the course of a commercial activity.
The following criteria must be met: You must determine whether your items are made o f African or Asian elephant ivory. The territory is in the process of bringing in its own total ban. But critics have long said allowing other ivory products to be sold openly drives up demand for the status symbol and allows illegal trade to flourish. Can China's ivory trade ban save elephants?
Laos is 'fastest growing' ivory market. The country that brought its elephants back from the brink. BBC News - The war on elephants. Image source, Getty Images. An estimated 30, African elephants are killed by poachers every year. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The facts and figures behind China's ivory trade. Sticking to the same story about the inherited tusk, the investigator next called ivory dealers who make a business of purchasing registered whole tusks from citizens and reselling them to manufacturers.
Thirty of 37 dealers suggested illegal activities, including a desire to buy the unregistered ivory directly or to help the investigator fraudulently register the tusk using fake, third-party testimonials. But in early a tusk registration official at the Japan Wildlife Research Center raised alarms after discovering a number of suspiciously similar applications.
An investigation led the Tokyo police to two ivory wholesale companies, Raftel and Flawless, and they seized 27 unregistered tusks the companies had tried to fraudulently register on behalf of sellers.
The prosecutor accepted the explanation, dismissing the cases and returning the seized tusks, according to JTEF's Sakamoto, the Japanese media, and the Tokyo police. To the ire of some officials, the cases were widely covered by the Japanese press. Keiko Aikawa, a deputy director at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, denied knowledge of any such warning. This is more than speculation.
When EIA hired two investigators to pose as Chinese buyers intent on taking ivory out of Japan, all four wholesalers they approached were ready to do business. During that period, Traffic Japan tallied more than a hundred seizures of illegal ivory totaling 2.
While shipping ivory overseas is illegal, selling it in Japan to foreign buyers is not. Last November, the Tokyo police arrested a Chinese sailor trying to board a China-bound vessel with ivory hankos.
The investigation led the police to another Chinese national and to Masao Tsuchiya, director of the All Japan Ivory Center in Tokyo, both of whom were arrested earlier this year. Tsuchiya argued that he had no idea his Chinese customers intended to take the ivory he sold them out of the country.
The prosecutor dismissed the case. Despite the newly imposed ivory ban in China, demand there remains strong. For now, Japan has not answered that call.
In an EIA report scheduled to be published on October 8, investigators found that nearly 60 percent of more than hanko vendors they approached had no qualms about customers taking ivory out of Japan. Several even offered to mail the ivory abroad themselves, which is illegal.
On the contrary, conservationists warn that as the stash is depleted, the temptation to smuggle in tusks from newly poached elephants could become irresistible. This may already be happening. In Huang Qun, former director of the Judiciary Identification Center of the National Forest Police Bureau, in Beijing, examined a seizure of more than 1, pounds of tusks from Japan that appeared to have come from recently killed elephants.
The enamel was moist, and the tusks were free from cracks and mildew, while their outer surface had deep deposits of grime. In June—in an effort to dispel mounting criticism, and citing a desire to strengthen controls—Japan tweaked its regulatory laws for ivory trade. Rather than regulate ivory products directly, though, officials have chosen to increase their supervisory power over traders.
Traders also must register all the whole tusks in their possession, and as in the past, they must self-report all their sales on a paper ledger.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Environment hired four new field officers tasked with controlling trade in endangered species. Japanese officials disagree. Some Japanese ivory users have come to see a domestic trade ban as inevitable—even welcome. Very few Japanese today create large-scale ivory sculptures of the sort produced in the Meiji period, but netsuke craftsmanship has made something of a comeback among a small group of artists and collecting enthusiasts, including Princess Hisako of Takamado.
Most artists now use a variety of materials, including wood, deer antler, metal, water buffalo horn, plastic, and stone—but for many, ivory still reigns supreme, according to Atsushi Date, chief curator of the Kyoto Seishu Netsuke Art Museum. In his studio, he hands me a small wooden box. Nestled inside is a tiny, strikingly lifelike white rabbit with shining red eyes.
Some hanko manufacturers agree with this thinking. A few have already opted out of selling ivory hankos, while others, including Soke Nihon Insou Kyokai, the company that first kicked off the ivory hanko craze, are considering alternatives.
Rakuten, the e-commerce company that Sakamoto previously investigated, banned ivory in , and Aeon, a prominent retail group, has already phased ivory out of its shops and given its mall tenants until to do the same. Some officials agree with this sentiment, though they generally keep such thoughts to themselves. Before stepping down as the U. Department of State. But in the meantime, thousands of elephants continue to be poached for their tusks each year.
Rachel Nuwer is a freelance journalist. Brent Stirton is a senior staff photographer for Reportage by Getty Images. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic.
All rights reserved. Animals Wildlife Watch. Masters of the shamisen—a traditional stringed instrument—use an ivory bridge and pick to produce what they say is a superior sound. Japan has consumed ivory from more than , elephants since Read in Japanese. This investigation was assisted by a grant from the Abe Fellowship Program, administered by the Social Science Research Council and in cooperation with, and with funds provided by, the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.
Wildlife Watch is an investigative reporting project between National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners focusing on wildlife crime and exploitation.
Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to ngwildlife natgeo. Share Tweet Email. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants.
This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city.
0コメント