New Ivory rules announced

[reedman]

The League of American Orchestras writes today that "One major exception to the rules will allow musicians to buy and sell instruments with small amounts of ivory, as well as carry them on international flights.… ‘We are so pleased,’ said Heather Noonan, the vice president for advocacy at the League of American Orchestras. ‘We’re particularly pleased that the rule confirms that domestic trade and international travel with existing musical instruments that contain small amounts of African elephant ivory aren’t contributing to the poaching crisis.’ 

 

NY Times story at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/world/africa/elephant-ivory-ban.html?_r=0

[Rue]

Excellent! And about time.

Now...will all airport personal be aware of this?

[Craig Tucker]

Excellent! And about time.

Now...will all airport personal be aware of this?

 

Yes, "about time" is right.

Probably in ten or fifteen years, word will manage to filter it's way down to that (airport personnel) level.

 

We live in a world that tries its best - to do what is correct. (most times at least, I believe)

Which very often means, fighting some "non-entity" regulations - where we have to simply grit our teeth and persist in our various pursuits. I say this after having recently bought a relatively large box of Mammoth Ivory... and word was, that it would soon become illegal to own, also.

 

I don't believe that "they" were able to outlaw Mammoth (fossil) Ivory yet - but how monstrously slow the government is with regulations and such - I expect it to become illegal since that was in the works at one time.

 

That'd be hilarious if live elephant tusk material, in small (as in bow tip & etc,) amounts becomes legal, but extinct Mammoth tusk becomes illegal.

[Televet]

Very encouraging, but what about the California Ivory Ban? This is surely a case of one Federal step forward and a gigantic State stride backwards. As far as  I understand it there are no such exemptions in the California rules?

[Dwight Brown]

But you can still go to Africa and shoot two elephants a year per person and import any or all of the dead animal as a trophy.  Seems a bit strange.

 

 

DLB

[Ben Hebbert]

I THINK IT'S INCUMBENT UPON ALL OF US TO READ THE GOVERNMENT Q&A ON THIS WHICH GIVES A VERY CLEAR VIEW OF WHAT IS LEGAL AND WHY... https://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/questions-and-answers-african-elephant-4d-final-rule.pdf

 

Note in particular that the revisions are only applicable to AFRICAN and not ASIAN ivory, but the de minimis exception means of 200grams essentially means that all ivory and ivory substitute materials should pass through customs unchallenged (I have long argued that there is no point putting a casin tip on a bow if the customs officials will mistake it for ivory)

 

200grams of ivory is 'slightly larger than a billiard ball' or slightly more the estimated amount of ivory found of a piano's keys. So far in excess of what an ivory-mounted bow could ever possibly weigh... which makes the observations in the "Example Scenarios" rather amusing... 

 

Here's a 2 1/4 inch billiard ball... whose precise weight by international standards should be 6oz or 170grams.

 

 

 

Incidentally, billiard sets and chess sets are excluded by the ban, given a weight above the de minimis, but it seems you can legitimately sell them piece by piece... It makes me laugh that there are loopholes

[rudall]

Actually ivory billiard balls would be prohibited under the de minimis rule because they are wholly made of the material:

 

(v)   The manufactured or handcrafted item is not made wholly or primarily of ivory, that is, the ivory component or components do not account for more than 50 percent of the item by volume

 

Andrew

[Rue]

I wonder how many bows have been 'refurbished' in the interim...and/or have lost value due to said refurb?

[Brad Dorsey]

Most of the bows offered in the recent Skinner auction had had their tips pulled off, damaging the heads of the bows in a few cases.  The only bows with tips in the auction had metal tips or other tips that were obviously not ivory.

[Ben Hebbert]

Actually ivory billiard balls would be prohibited under the de minimis rule because they are wholly made of the material:

 

(v)   The manufactured or handcrafted item is not made wholly or primarily of ivory, that is, the ivory component or components do not account for more than 50 percent of the item by volume

 

Andrew

 Ahem,... er... just seeing if anyone actually read it! ... (yeah, right!)