All ivory donations must be sent via USPS, UPS, Federal Express or any other method suitable for deposit to the following address: Leave us your comments below. After reading this article, will you add a statement to your real estate purchase agreement stating that you do not sell items prohibited by federal, state, and local authorities? Up to 35,000 African elephants are killed by poachers each year. Over the past five years, the elephant population in Tanzania – historically one of the main elephant distribution states – has declined by more than 60%. In the south, nearly half of Mozambique`s elephants have disappeared, again due to poaching. And in Central Africa, 65% of forest elephants have been killed in a decade. Since February 25, 2014, it has been illegal to sell or buy processed elephant ivory that does not: A. While the largest ivory-consuming countries are in Asia, the United States has one of the largest markets in the world. U. Law enforcement has made several arrests in recent years as part of Operation Crash, resulting in several arrests and seizures of millions of dollars of illegal ivory. Much of this ivory comes from the 100,000 African elephants poached between 2010 and 2012. That`s about 96 elephants killed per day, or 1 every 15 minutes. Q.

How is ivory consumption in the United States contributing to the African elephant poaching crisis? Exceptions to the new law are antiques that are more than 100 years old and have less than 20% ivory in their composition, and musical instruments made before 1975. Other exceptions allow the transfer of ivory for educational or scientific purposes and the transfer of elephant ivory to a legitimate beneficiary of a trust or estate. One. There is strong support for ending the ivory trade in Asian countries. In fact, a recent WildAid poll in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai found that 95 percent of respondents supported an ivory ban, while an equal percentage favored tougher penalties for rhino traffickers. This shift in public opinion in China has influenced the Chinese government to respond to the poaching crisis. Following several announcements in 2015 and 2016, the Chinese government banned the import of carved African ivory for a year and promised to set a timetable for a ban on domestic ivory trade and restrictions on importing ivory as hunting trophies later this year. One. The U.S. ivory ban includes an exemption for small (de minimis) amounts of legally imported ivory that could allow the sale of certain musical instruments. New York, California, Washington, and Hawaii grant exemptions for musical instruments containing less than 20% ivory by volume, provided they have historical records showing that the item was manufactured no later than 1975. Q.

Why is it necessary to include mammoth ivory in state ivory bans? One. The recently enacted U.S. ivory ban applies to the commercial import, export, and interstate (cross-border sales) of ivory products. State ivory bans focus primarily on domestic transactions (intra-state sales) and complement the U.S. ban with stricter local laws. If state prohibitions include importation or interstate, the U.S. ban prevails. However, the U.S. ban will not affect the main part of state bans that apply to intra-state sales. The New York Times recently reported on a 2016 article in which antique dealers were accused of illegal ivory sales worth $4.5 million.

To encourage the country with the world`s largest ivory market to immediately and permanently cease operations, the United States – at the federal and state levels – must lead by example. Delaware Senator Karen Peterson and Representative Sean Lynn introduced Senate Bill 156, which would «prohibit any person from buying, selling, offering for sale, possessing or importing ivory or rhino horn with the intent to sell ivory or rhino horn, unless otherwise specified, and would make such prohibition enforceable by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.» On June 24, 2015, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, the Economy and the Economy. Learn more about SB156. One. The new U.S. ivory ban will legally end most of the U.S. ivory trade to protect elephants. It essentially prohibits all commercial, export, and interstate import and trade of African elephant ivory, with a few exceptions. These exemptions include commercial export and interstate trade in items that meet the antiquities exemption criteria of the Endangered Species Act, as well as interstate trade in certain manufactured or handmade items containing a small (minor) amount of legally imported ivory. The final regulations came into force on July 6, 2016. For more information on the U.S. ivory ban, see Final U.S.

Ivory Ban or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service`s Q&A. The sale of most ivory items is prohibited by law in the United States. If you inherited jewelry or luxury items made of ivory or ivory components, you can donate them to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). Items generally covered by this exception are musical instruments with ivory components. Selling ivory or ivory products worth more than $25,000 is now classified as a Class D felony in New York, punishable by up to seven years in prison. In February, the federal government announced a near-total ban on ivory sales to the United States as part of the National Strategy Against Wildlife Trafficking.

The strategy aims to curb demand for ivory in the United States, but has raised concerns among collectors of antiquities and ivory musical instruments that they would find themselves on the wrong side of the new law. Q. What support is there in Asian countries to stop the ivory trade? Michigan on 4. In June 2015, Senator Steven Bieda introduced Senate Bill 0371 (like House Bill 4509), which effectively prohibits «the sale, purchase, barter or possession with intent to sell ivory or rhinoceros or products derived therefrom.» On the same day, the bill was referred to the Natural Resources Committee. Before the Natural Resources Committee. Read SB 371. It`s best to find out about regulations in your area, but many companies prefer to stay away, let customers know they can`t sell ivory, and leave it up to the customer to decide what to do. Some states ban the sale of ivory altogether, so depending on where you live, you may not even be able to sell it. The de minimis exception applies only to African elephant ivory, not Asian elephant ivory.

These are items that contain a small (minor) amount of African elephant ivory. International trade in African elephant ivory is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); The IUCN Red List classifies African savannah elephants as «endangered» and African forest elephants as «critically endangered». The IUCN Red List classifies Asian elephants as «vulnerable» and they are listed in Appendix I of CITES.