Ivory Trade Update 2020

Flooded with news about the current global situation, it’s not hard to lose sight of where the world stands in regards to ivory trade regulations. Let’s not forget elephants have been facing an ongoing poaching crisis since a long while!

To keep us in track, today on #WednesdaysForWildlife we’re listing a summary on where regions stand in regards to ivory trade laws:

– United States: Implemented a permanent ban on commercial ivory in July 2016. It was not until 2018 that the Trump Administration lifted this ban, allowing import of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia on a case-to-case basis.

– Europe: A ban on raw ivory export was instilled in 2017 but domestic trade is still allowed. There is also a loophole that allows parties to trade ivory items bought before 1947 freely and items bought between 1947 and 1990 with a certificate.

– United Kingdom: The UK has been fighting for around 3 years to instill the Ivory Act 2018, one of the strictest bans around ivory worldwide. This ban should have been implemented late 2019, although an appeal delayed the decision.

– China: In 2017 China implemented a total ban on ivory sale, although ivory trade is still an issue as authorities fail to regulate the illegal ivory trade market.

– Southern Africa: has been home to a 30 year long ivory ban imposed by CITES, which is now under scrutiny as some African nations call for a suspension. On another hand, activist groups fight to close down all wildlife markets amid the Coronavirus outbreak. We have come a long way when it comes to protecting the elephants we all love but, as you see, there is still progress to be done – both legally and in the black market!

Photo by Jeremy Goss