Just four weeks before the House of Lords’ committee stage of the proposed bill to ban ivory, BADA Council members Alastair Gibson and Laura Bordignon have published an open letter, urging people to sign the petition (ATG No 2354).
Too little, too late. The petition asks that the de minimis rule is raised from 10% to 50% of ivory. But 50% of what exactly? Area? Weight? Can the ivory be separated from the object? Is 50% acceptable but 51% illegal? Quite unnecessarily complicated.
The solution is simple and straightforward. Only ivory at least 100 years old, with a certificate of authenticity, can be sold. Trade in any and all other ivory is illegal.
This sensible amendment to the ivory bill – which should have been proposed originally – is the only workable strategy worth formulating.
If the powers-that-be put me in touch with the right people, I am prepared to present the case myself.
Gavin Littaur
London
