Australia gets closer to banning domestic ivory trade

Australia is holding public hearings on potentially banning the domestic trade of ivory and rhino horns.

The country is under intense pressure after the UK proposed one of the most stringent ivory laws; the U.S. and China have also imposed a similar ban shutting down ivory trading.

A parliamentary committee was formed in April to investigate whether Australia’s ivory trade is leading to the massive poaching of African elephants.

The country currently bans the international trade of ivory procured before 1975, following the recommendation from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), however there is no ban in place for domestic trading.

Poachers and smugglers are exploiting loopholes in the pre-convention ivory rule to import and export new ivory pieces, boosting illegal trade. Ascertaining the age of ivory pieces also further complicates enforcement of the ban both in the physical and online market.

“Currently, there are no legal requirements on sellers, auctioneers or electronic marketplaces to provide evidence at the point of sale which demonstrates the legal importation, provenance, or age of an elephant or rhino specimen,” the parliamentary committee maintained.

Law enforcement agencies in the last decade have confiscated around 320 imported and 79 exported ivory pieces. International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in an undercover investigation in 2016 discovered the massive sale of ivory and rhino horns by Australian and New Zealand based auction houses.


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Hong Kong’s ivory ban sparks fresh hope for endangered elephants

Along with China's ban last year, the Hong Kong government's decision to outlaw the sale of ivory has conservationists hopeful it will bring down the rate at which elephants are being poached in Africa.

March 2, 2018 —Smooth white bracelets, intricate carvings of women in flowing gowns, and majestic horses are among the countless items that are disappearing from shop windows in mainland China as the government implements an ivory trading ban for the world’s largest consumer of ivory.

And now Hong Kong, the largest ivory retail market, is preparing to do the same. Lawmakers voted Jan. 31 to ban the sale of ivory starting in 2021, and increase penalties for wildlife crimes. Both bans include exceptions for certain antiques and cultural relics.

Wildlife researchers say the ivory bans in China and Hong Kong are promising steps toward conserving elephant populations, as legal markets often function as a cover for illegal markets. By closing legal markets of ivory, legislators and conservationists hope to further restrict access to ivory and lower prices and demand for ivory products.

“Bans on ivory reduce the incentive to poach for elephants because there’s nowhere for the ivory to go,” says Elly Pepper, deputy director of the wildlife trade initiative at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington.

Banning ivory, along with wider efforts to crack down on the illegal ivory trade, is ultimately aimed at saving elephants whose numbers are threatened by high levels of poaching.

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