Ivory regulation

MADAM – Peter Cameron writes in ATG No 2353 that only 691 people have signed the ivory petition [now at 1688 as we go to press], that a response from the government requires 10,000 signatures, and that 100,000 are needed to raise a parliamentary debate.

MADAM – Six hundred and ninety-one people is actually a fairly decent response from a trade in which there are only a handful of interested parties (Letters, ATG No 2353).

MADAM – My congratulations to Anthony Bernbaum and to Lewis Baer for their excellent letters: Mr Bernbaum’s account of why he left Online Galleries and Mr Baer advocating the creation of a global trade body for the art and antiques sector (ATG No 2352).

MADAM – ATG readers may know about the online petition created by dealer Alastair Gibson to raise the ivory ‘de minimis’ in the government’s ivory ban (Freya Simms, chief executive of LAPADA, writes). We have just written to our members, in case they wish to support this, to pass on a tip about filling in the online form. I am passing on this information to ATG readers also.

The so-called de minimis rule – the requirement to register items containing less than 10% of ivory prior to sale – has been criticised in the House of Lords as the ivory bill continues its progress through parliament.

The House of Lords plans to recommend amendments to the ivory bill in the hope that it will be “less damaging” to the art and antiques trade.

The government’s imminent ivory law change has forced an international collectors’ conference to pull out of London and move overseas.

MADAM – I am writing to counter the simplistic view espoused by Niall Milligan concerning the banning of ivory (Letters, ATG No 2348).

Trade bodies seeking to legally challenge the government’s plan for a near-total UK ban on the sale of ivory have been told they must wait until the bill receives Royal Assent.

MADAM – News that the British Museum is to accept the donation of more than 500 Chinese ivory figures from the Sir Victor Sassoon collection, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries, is to be welcomed… to a degree!

MADAM – Despite extensive editorial coverage as well as correspondence in Antiques Trade Gazette, the debate on banning ivory seems to lack balance.

MPs have called for a “quick, affordable and not too bureaucratic” registration process for items containing less than 10% ivory under the bill that will usher in a near-total ban on the trade in ivory objects.

MADAM – The consultation by DEFRA on the proposed government ivory ban seemingly gave no information for or against a total ban on ivory which could help respondents have an informed opinion.