Environment Secretary Michael Gove has announced a consultation to end the trade in ivory of all ages - previous attempts at a ban would have excluded antique ivory produced before 1947.
The government says there will be some exemptions, for musical instruments and items of cultural importance.
Conservation groups have given a guarded welcome to the plan.
Growing market
While the UK has had a ban on the trade in raw ivory tusks, it has become the world's leading exporter of legal ivory carvings and antiques in recent years.
According to an Environmental Investigation Agency report, there were more than 36,000 items exported from the UK between 2010 and 2015, more than three times that of the next biggest exporter, the US.
Conservationists argue that these sales stimulate the demand for the product, and are linked to increased elephant poaching across Africa.
Prince William has long been a campaigner against against ivory trade and in 2016 urged the UK to pass a total ban on domestic sales.
At a wildlife conference in Vietnam, he said: "Ivory is not something to be desired and when removed from an elephant it is not beautiful.
"So, the question is: why are we still trading it? We need governments to send a clear signal that trading in ivory is abhorrent."
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Previous attempts in the UK by the Conservative Party to limit sales of ivory have failed to get off the ground.
A ban on sales of ivory produced after 1947 was announced by then Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom in 2016 but a follow-up consultation never materialised.
However, a 12-week consultation on Mr Gove's proposals is due to start immediately, and draft legislation covering a ban on sales and exports is likely in the new year.
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