UK named as world's largest legal ivory exporter

A new trade analysis reveals the scale of Britain’s role in the international ivory trade

Britain was the world’s largest exporter of legal ivory between 2010 and 2015, a breakdown of records held by the Convention on international trade in endangered species (Cites) has revealed.

Not only did the UK export more ivory than anyone else to Hong Kong and China – which are considered smuggling hubs for “blood ivory” - it also sold on 370% more ivory than the next highest exporter, the USA.

The new trade analysis, which is being released ahead of World Elephant Day on Saturday, will embarrass the government

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/10/uk-named-as-worlds-largest-legal-ivory-exporter

Back a bit.

Tories quietly ditch manifesto promise to ban bloodthirsty ivory trade that kills thousands of elephants a year

Prince William has backed calls for a ban on ivory sales, saying he is “not prepared to be part of a generation that lets these iconic species disappear from the wild”.

https://davidshepherd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Letter-to-the-Telegraph.pdf

Read this letter if you have time.

David Shepherd-Wildlife Foundation.

In its 2010 and 2015 manifestos, the Conservative Party

. The UK is trailing behind China, the USA and even war-torn South Sudan in taking domestic action to follow through on the manifesto pledges. China is honouring its pledge to end their domestic ivory trade in 2017.

https://davidshepherd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Letter-to-the-Telegraph.pdf

At times like this i check to see what Chunky Mark thinks about this news.

Outrage as yesterday the UK is named Worlds largest exporter of Ivory

Elevents - World Elephant Day

Elephants have a special place in our hearts at Myakka and feature on a wide range of our designs, ... Date: World Elephant Day, Saturday, August 12, 2017

http://worldelephantday.org/events

so the UK exports antiques and a buch of do-gooders want to conflate this to smuggling and encouraging illegal poaching?

I held a licence for working ivory as part of a conservation group that included the V&A museum and English Heritage. Maybe you would wish to see all artefacts made of ivory destroyed, the same way as the taliban want all effigies of the pre islamic world destroyed. None of this would save a single elephant.

Nigeria solved its drug smuggling propblems by summary execution until the US govt and others complained, mainly based on the death of one of their citizens caught out at Lagos airport. Obviously Americans abroad can never commit crimes, hence the hoo-ha. If you want to protect the wildlife population you have to do soemthing about the human population

so the UK exports antiques and a buch of do-gooders want to conflate this to smuggling and encouraging illegal poaching?

"the UK government has dragged its heels over taking action, quietly dropping a 2015 manifesto pledge to “press for a total ban on ivory sales” in the summer election campaign earlier this year"

WHY has this pledge been dropped?

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/165905

"Although it is already illegal to sell ivory from elephants killed after 1947, a loophole allows dealers to claim items are antique without providing documentary evidence of their age. "

"Ivory objects are still widely sold in Britain but few questions are asked of its provenance"

Effectively, the UK would appear to be growing into (in a shrinking market) the Ivory laundering capital of the world, just like being the money laundering capital of the world

This enables continued sales of Ivory from recently killed Elephants to markets like China even though China itself, like the USA is increasing regulation.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/21/uk-to-crack-down-on-illegal-ivory-sales

" would appear to be"

These words in the Grauniad tell me that they have no substantive evidence to support the claim, same as Jeremy says "many people" and conflates that to being a majority when it is proven to be not the case.

As for documentary evidence, when I reused billiard balls and piano keys as a source I had to get the word of a person to agree that they were indeed antique billiard balls on piano keys but what documentary evidence can you have for a secondhand piano or a chess set bought at auction other than the knowledge of those giving an opinion? What next- neolithic tools are all fakes becuase none of them are signed and have no paperwork attached when they are dug up?

Reality and the outpourings of a group of people who have an agenda that includes the destruction of all artwork are very far apart.

I had a long argument with my insurance company today and they kept telling me that this and that happened and I kept saying, well show me the documentary evidence to support your assertions. after 2 hours they admitted they had nothing to support their claims and agreed to pay me my wasted time costs. In short, dont tell me, show me. I like impirical evidence not a supposition.

" would appear to be"

These words in the Grauniad tell me that they have no substantive evidence to support the claim,

You seem to miss the whole concept of 'Laundered' - money or Ivory

Its intended to makes dirty goods look clean to normal observers or even those looking hard, and especially when the powers that be look the other way.

If ordinary plebs could just say - 'there it is' then it wouldn't be laundered now would it?

There have been 100,000 Elephants poached in the last 3 years - where has that Ivory gone?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140818-elephants-africa-poaching-cites-census/

There are a limited number of places THAT quantity of ivory could go to be entered into 'legitimate' markets. The UK is one of those very few places where Ivory can be easily laundered.

http://blogs.wwf.org.uk/blog/wildlife/elephants/ten-things-need-know-ivory-trade-uk/

(UK Border force) Seizure data shows that the UK plays a role in illegal ivory trade, at both import and re-export, but in particular as a transit country, with ivory seizures reported by the UK having increased in recent years. Of the 2,853 illegal wildlife products seized entering the UK between 2009 and 2014, at least 1,165 were ivory products."

"According to figures from CITES, between 2005 and 2014, the UK was a significant re-exporter of ivory for commercial purposes, comprising 990 kg as well as around 54,000 ivory pieces, which was 31% of the EU’s total. There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of ivory being re-exported from the UK to China since 2005"

Where has that all that extra Ivory come from?

and those reported above that were JUST the ones that were caught by our under staffed Border Force.

Besides, I believe in this sort of area the onus should undoubtedly be on governments ensuring that these sort of actions (illegal laundering activity) are difficult to achieve - NOT easy.

Dont you?

Yet with China proposing a total ban on Ivory by the end of this year ???

If it does, it might take the drying up of the market to reduce the UK's traffic in Ivory legal or illegal

- how sick is that for a so called civilised society?

so in 5 years an average of 220 items per year were seized and these were described as ivory products, which tends to indicate worked ivory imports, so not anything to do with the legal export of antiques. I was asked to do a repair on a piece of ivory jewellery and it was clearly not made before 1947 so I binned it, much to the chagrin of the owner. I gave then some of my thoughts on their behaviour and attitude to buying ivory without having the knowledge to avoid buying rogue stuff when they are involved in buying ansd selling jeewellery as a business so they were not getting any sympathy for their loss either. The catholic church has the doctrine that everyone is bad and will turn towards sin unless you beat them, I believe that people are mostly good but it is necessary to punish those who do bad so let us have a system that punishes the wrongdoer and when I say punish I mean it but that goes against the doctrine of the Grauniad and modern educational thinking.

Is it sick to go to a museum and admire the workmanship of a 10th century viking carver?

My beef is with the wording used by those who wish to actually do great things but wend up doing great damage. To quote a "dramatic increase", how much is that? from 1 to 2 is 100% increase and put like that it is "dramatic" but in terms of actual numbers is it a dramatic increase?

The continuation of the hyperbole in the words like "could"

There are ways of fingerprinting every piece of ivory that changes hands in the open market. It will cost about £15 an item at the less sophisticated way of doing things but easily done. Basically you do a laser ablation analysis of the piece and you use the same kit to apply a number to the item as well.It is done with diamonds and gold bars (they use AAS to fingerprint)

A few years ago anti Israel groups protested about the export of ammuntion to Israel which they claimed would be used to shoot innocent Palestinians. Well, that "export" was for one case of .22 ammuntion to be used by an olympic hopeful who was residing there temporarily as he had relatives there. The Israelis dont buy british arms generally becsue they arent of high enough quality. Perfectly OK to give our own troops third rate stuff but cant flog it to those who know better. The point of this is that the reality didnt match the hyperbole so again someone publish the actual numbers. There will be an increas in illegal ivory imports over "recent years" because it isnt so long (1990) that there wasnt any illegality to it at all so any seizure is obviously an increase from zero

how much would an unworked polished medium sized elephants tusk be worth?

I was asked to do a repair on a piece of ivory jewellery and it was clearly not made before 1947 so I binned it, much to the chagrin of the owner.

How did you know?

What evidence did you have?

My beef is with the wording used by those who wish to actually do great things but wend up doing great damage. To quote a "dramatic increase", how much is that? from 1 to 2 is 100% increase and put like that it is "dramatic" but in terms of actual numbers is it a dramatic increase?

 

The continuation of the hyperbole in the words like "could"

"The continuation of the hyperbole in the words like "could"" or 'is it' or casting doubt without justification'

Which the entirety of your counter-arguments appears to be based on,

and which you have just used (again)

How about some real evidence that the market is clean?

at least to the standard of the border force stats?

The first part of your post simply confirms that illegal ivory is simply walked into shops.