Antiques Traders Angry at the UK’s Ivory Ban, One of the World’s Toughest, Have Lost Their Fight to Overturn It in Court

The UK’s Court of Appeal has
dismissed a legal challenge from antiques dealers trying to reverse
the country’s near-total ban on ivory trading.

The Ivory Act passed into law in
December 2018 amid fierce criticism from the art and antiques
industry, which had been fighting hard to expand the narrow
exceptions afforded to some art objects including a small amount of
the controversial animal-sourced material. Industry players acting under the group Friends
of Antique Cultural Treasures Ltd previously made a failed attempt
to overturn the ban last November, and appealed the court’s
decision soon after.

On Monday, May 18, the Court of
Appeal upheld the lower court ruling, and dismissed their appeal
arguing that the Ivory Act “went foo far” and that they were in
violation of the human right to respect property.

The UK’s ivory ban is one
of the world’s toughest, and it prohibits the trade of a large
number of art and antique objects that were previously being traded
legitimately.

“The dismissal of this appeal has come at a
difficult time for the locked-down UK art trade,” Tim
Maxwell, a partner at the
law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, who specializes in private
wealth and luxury items, says in a statement provided to Artnet
News. “No one disputes that any increase in poaching
or the market for modern ivory should be curbed and ideally
extinguished,” Maxwell adds, explaining that the legal challenge
from the group of trade insiders was a question of approach rather
than principle. 

Trade Opposition

While there are some exemptions
to the ban, traders argue that they are simply too narrow for them
to continue doing business. Dealers have been battling to increase
the maximum percentage of ivory permitted in objects made before
1947, which is currently capped at just 10 percent. Other exempted
items include museum-quality pieces and portrait miniatures painted
on thin pieces of ivory that were made more than 100 years ago, as
well as musical instruments containing less than 20 percent ivory,
which were made before 1975, the date that Asian elephants were
listed as an endangered species. In order to be traded, qualifying
items need to be registered online at a fee. 

Many traders have argued that
the strict ban decimates their UK businesses and they have
threatened to decamp to other art market hubs to trade instead,
which Maxwell points out could be “counter-productive for enforcement.”

Speaking to Artnet News when the
ban was first introduced, London-based dealer Max Rutherston, who
specializes in Japanese netsuke, small carved ivory ornaments,
said that the law would
be “disastrous.”

“Works of art that have been
treasured for centuries, and which are of significant historical
significance, will be outlawed overnight,” Rutherston commented at
the time, adding that his business, which has thrived for eight
years, would become unworkable in the UK.

Wildlife Advocates’ Relief

Meanwhile, wildlife advocates
are rejoicing in the decision. During lockdown, there have
been reports of a resurgence in elephant ivory poaching as
the tourism industry collapses, removing much-needed funds from
conservation programs.

“This welcome judgement
hopefully draws a line under the protracted legal challenge to the
Ivory Act, which passed into law in December 2018 but has yet to be
implemented,” the head of policy at the UK wildlife charity Born
Free, Mark Jones, tells Artnet News. “We urge the government to act
swiftly in implementing the act in full. Africa’s elephants cannot
afford to wait any longer.” Jones adds that the UK should look to
extending the ban to include ivory from other species including
hippos, walruses, and warthogs “without delay.”

A spokesman for the Museums
Association, which represents around 1,500 museums, tells Artnet
News that it also supports the implementation of the bill, which
will crack down on the illegal ivory trade while allowing museums
to continue to acquire, own, and display objects made with
ivory. “The exemption for
accredited museums recognizes the important place that ivory has
occupied in different cultures and locations across the world, and
recognizes museums as an appropriate place for the historic,
cultural and scientific study and display of such items,” the
spokesman says.

The art trade still has a chance
to take the case to the UK’s Supreme Court, but it remains to be
seen whether it will do so. 

The post Antiques Traders Angry at the UK’s Ivory Ban, One
of the World’s Toughest, Have Lost Their Fight to Overturn It in
Court appeared first on artnet News.