I saw the comments and questions by Larry and Dale and did some research. I located a press release by the U.S. Department of the Interior dated 2/11/2014 and it appears that the government is preparing to issue a set administrative rules on these issues. The press release can be found at, click: press release dated 2/11/2014.

The entire press release should be read but this is a summary of the proposed administrative rules that are being prepared:

“The U.S. market is contributing to the crisis now threatening the African elephant,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “The largely unregulated domestic trade in elephant ivory has served as a loophole that gives cover for illegal trade. Through a series of administrative actions, we can establish a commercial ivory ban and provide the urgently needed protections for elephants and rhinos that will help counteract the unparalleled threats facing two of the world’s most treasured species.”

-Prohibit Commercial Import of African Elephant Ivory: All commercial imports of African elephant ivory, including antiques, will be prohibited.

-Prohibit Commercial Export of Elephant Ivory: All commercial exports will be prohibited, except for bona fide antiques, certain noncommercial items, and in exceptional circumstances permitted under the Endangered Species Act.

-Significantly Restrict Domestic Resale of Elephant Ivory: We will finalize a proposed rule that will reaffirm and clarify that sales across state lines are prohibited, except for bona fide antiques, and will prohibit sales within a state unless the seller can demonstrate an item was lawfully imported prior to 1990 for African elephants and 1975 for Asian elephants, or under an exemption document.

-Clarify the Definition of “Antique”: To qualify as an antique, an item must be more than 100 years old and meet other requirements under the Endangered Species Act. The onus will now fall on the importer, exporter, or seller to demonstrate that an item meets these criteria.

-Restore Endangered Species Act Protection for African Elephants: We will revoke a previous Fish and Wildlife Service special rule that had relaxed Endangered Species Act restrictions on African elephant ivory trade.

-Support Limited Sport-hunting of African Elephants: We will limit the number of African elephant sport-hunted trophies that an individual can import to two per hunter per year.

I normally don't use ivory, but I have an order for an ivory handled knife. I already have the ivory and am wondering if I will be able to fill the order or if I'll be stuck with it.

Dale

Dale, I'd say make and ship the piece before any changes take effect and make sure you've got documentation on the ivory itself.

I never used elephant ivory myself, and I'm glad, I didn't personally feel comfortable with the questionable sources of even pre-ban ivory, and the situation always seemed tenuous to me. I'm sure this will affect some makers much more than others, and collectors especially bad that had hopes of reselling.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this situation changing a lot over the next decade however, if it becomes more contentious and public. This seems to be running pretty below the radar at the moment, and will affect many more people than knifemakers and collectors.

Initial discussion on this topic indicated that the ban would affect all ivory, mammoth, mastodon, and walrus. But what I am reading in this most recent documentation is a focus specifically on elephant ivory. I realize that any law can be abused by "interpretation" by overzealous enforcement, but as the law is written are non-elephant ivories affected?

Kevin

It appears that the U.S. Fish and and Wildlife Service is in the process of drafting a series of administrative regulations that they will be enforcing.

I went to their website this morning and found the series of questions and answers below about the proposed administrative regulations which appear to address elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn. I will try to obtain a copy of the final administrative regulations after they have been promulgated.

Q: The national strategy calls for additional restrictions on commercial elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn trade in the U.S. What commercial trade will be prohibited?

A: Nearly all commercial trade will be prohibited. Over the next few months, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will undertake a series of administrative actions to stop virtually all commercial trade in elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn in the United States.

All commercial imports of African elephant ivory will be prohibited.

Commercial imports of Asian elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn, and all elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn exports will be prohibited, except a small and very strictly defined class of documented antiques. The seller and buyer must be able to provide proof that it meets all legal requirements.

Domestic commerce will be prohibited, except (1) a small and very strictly defined class of documented antiques; and (2) in intrastate commerce only (i.e., not across state lines), items documented as legally imported prior to 1990 for African elephants, 1975 for Asian elephants, 1977 for black rhinoceros and 1975 for any other

Q: What commerce will be legal?

A: A strictly defined and narrow class of documented antiques will be legal. The seller and buyer must document that the antique meets all terms of the strict Endangered Species Act (ESA) statutory exemption. Only these documented antiques may be sold domestically, imported (except African elephant ivory, which is prohibited) and exported.

Items that do not meet the antique requirements but that the seller and buyer can document were legally imported prior to 1990 for African elephants, 1975 for Asian elephants, 1977 for black rhinoceros and 1975 for any other rhinoceros. These documented items may be sold only in intrastate commerce.

Q. If someone is considering buying elephant ivory or rhinoceros horn, or a product containing elephant ivory or rhino horn, what advice would you give them?

A: If someone is trying to sell you elephant ivory or rhino horn, or something that contains elephant ivory or rhino horn, demand documentation and consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prior to purchase.

This is the link to the website for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov/

It might be a good idea to document legitimate non-elephant ivory too. It doesn't take much imagination to picture a USFW person responsible for judging whether an ivory is legitimate or not making a mistake and treating it as if it weren't. That seems like a fairly probably scenario that likely could be avoided with good documentation.

I hope the regulations are specific about Arctic and fossil ivory.

To obtain the accurate and the most up to date information about these proposed administrative regulations you have to read the information provided on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website which was last updated on February 11, 2014. There are many questions about these proposed regulations and you can find answers to many of these questions at, click: http://www.fws.gov/international/travel-and-trade/ivory-ban-questions-and-answers.html

This is the published timeline for the administrative regulations:

When will these actions take effect?

The actions described above will involve different processes and timelines. We are already working on these actions, and initial steps will be taken within the next several weeks. However, some of these actions will be open to public comment, so completion of some actions will take substantially more time.

Prohibit Commercial Import of Elephant Ivory: As a first step, we will issue a Director’s Order that will provide guidance to Service officers on enforcement of the existing 1989 African Elephant Conservation Act moratorium. The Order will lay out all of the actions to be undertaken by the Service to address the current crisis with elephants and rhinoceroses. We anticipate issuance of this Order by mid-February, 2014. We will also publish a proposed or interim final rule with an opportunity for public comment to revise the 1989 AECA moratorium as well as create regulations under the AECA in our general wildlife import/export regulations (50 CFR Part 14). We anticipate publishing a proposed or interim final rule by the end of June.

Clarify the Definition of “Antique”: This action, like the action above, will require a two-step process. In the same Director’s Order described above, we will provide guidance to Service officers on the antique exemption under the ESA. We anticipate issuance of this Order by mid-February. We will publish a proposed or interim final rule with an opportunity for public comment to revise our endangered species regulations (50 CFR Part 17) to provide guidance on the statutory exemption for antiques. We anticipate publishing a proposed or interim final rule by the end of June.

Strengthen Endangered Species Act Protection for African Elephants: We will propose to revoke the ESA African elephant special rule (50 CFR 17.40(e)). This action will require publication of a proposed or interim final rule with an opportunity for public comment, followed by a final rule. We anticipate publishing a proposed or interim final rule by the end of April, 2014.

Reinforce International Controls on Wildlife Trade: We will finalize revisions to our U.S. CITES regulations (50 CFR Part 23), including the “use-after-import” provisions in 50 CFR 23.55. These revisions have already been published as a proposed rule with a public comment period. We anticipate publishing a final rule by the end of February, 2014. The revised regulations will be in effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Support Limited Sport-hunting of African Elephants: We will publish a proposed or interim final rule with an opportunity for public comment to revise the 1989 AECA moratorium and create regulations under the AECA in our general wildlife import/export regulations (50 CFR Part 14). We anticipate publishing a proposed or interim final rule by the end of June, 2014.

I just talked to Knife World Editor Mark Zalesky and he wrote an extensive article on these issues for the cover page of the next issue of Knife World. Mark has made the article available for you online at, click: Knife World "Ivory Ban Moves Forward"

Yesterday on May 15th the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service updated their website and posted extensive proposed regulations that will become effective 30 days after publication. This is the link, click: http://www.fws.gov/international/travel-and-trade/ivory-ban-questions-and-answers.html#23

Seeing ivory mentioned in this month's "Topic of The Month" got me to wondering if the new rules have gone into effect of not. I read that they were going to start and then read that they had been put on hold. Anyone know for sure.

Dale

I'm curious about this as well.

I know that there are some dealers who are already restricting sales, due to the risk of legal problems from selling ivory. I saw a post on a gun forum, about a double rifle that was recently listed by the prestigious auction house, James D. Julia.

This rifle was made in the 1930s. The front sight blade has a tiny ivory bead. James Julia will not allow the gun to be sold with the front sight, unless the buyer hires an ivory authenticator that the auction house trusts to prepare an ESA statement for the ivory. This ivory authenticator charges $1,500 to prepare the documents. So if the buyer of the rifle wants the front sight blade with the tiny speck of ivory, it will cost them $1,500 to get it. Without the papers, James Julia will remove the front sight and return it to the seller.

Here is a link to the listing for this gun. James D. Julia

All,

Not to be an alarmist but mastodon and other fossilized ivory will be suspect without documentation. There is a species test that involves the grain structure layers but most feds will not be trained to identify the difference. Coloring is not an indicator of age or species. In fact there is evidence that the demand for fossilized elephant species has increased substantially resulting if African elephant ivory being dyed and sold as fossilized ivory. I believe there is a ban in some eastern cities that now includes all ivory regardless of species present or extinct.

So definitely keep documentation on any type of ivory that you buy.

Dan P

This is an interesting article from National Geographic titled " How Killing Elephants Finances Terror in Africa". This is the link to the article, click: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tracking-ivory/article.html

This is an article in National Geographic Explorer.

"Chinese Researchers Explore How to Implement Ivory Ban"

China has a 3,000-year tradition of carving ivory. Shutting down its thriving ivory market won’t be easy.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in September 2015 that China would, together with the United States, work toward a complete domestic ban on ivory, it was a welcome step in the fight against elephant poaching. Yet it was also only the first step in a long road. Now comes the difficult process of deciding how to make the ban happen.

Ivory from the slaughter of some 30,000 elephants a year often winds up in the key markets of China and the U.S. A 2014 report found that China is the largest importer of illegal elephant tusks in the world, based on seized shipments.

Because this contraband finds its way into China’s legal ivory market, shutting it down completely is seen as a vital step toward eliminating the illegal killing of elephants.

“There are a lot of things that need to be addressed before a ban is implemented,” says Aster Zhang, a wildlife biologist and professor at Beijing Normal University.

Now, a group of Chinese researchers from several disciplines have come together as an expert working group to assess options and make recommendations to the government. They’ll examine different possibilities for the form and timing of a ban and how to promote compliance.

“It’s unique because it’s done by Chinese themselves,” says Aili Kang, Asia director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, a global nonprofit organization headquartered in New York City. “This is crucial if you want any impact on the central government process.”

The working group is supported by the Science for Nature and People partnership, or SNAP, a collaboration among the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Nature Conservancy, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. SNAP gathers specialists from a broad range of disciplines to undertake science-based analysis to tackle high-profile problems.

Zhang and Kang are the joint principal investigators of the ivory working group, which includes Chinese researchers from leading universities, such as Beijing Normal University, Sun Yat-Sen University, People’s University, the Environment Policy Department of Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP), and Wuhan University, as well as several international experts.

The researchers aim to have initial results and recommendations to share with delegates to the National People’s Congress (China’s legislature) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body, in March 2016.

That’s when the government will develop the policy for the ban, Kang says, adding that “there’s a lot of concern about how to implement a ban.”

One concern is how to reduce the impact of closing such a culturally significant market. “In China, we do have a big ivory market—it’s not simple to shut it down,” Zhang says. “Ivory carving has a 3,000-year history. It’s in our culture. So we need to find a way to balance culture preservation and future populations.”

According to Zhang, China has 30 registered ivory carving companies and 130 registered ivory retail companies, which together employ about 3,000 workers. Further, China has a certification system for legal ivory, with items over 50 grams (just under two ounces) having their own photo identification.

Zhang and his university team are in the process of doing on-site surveys of these companies to gather information about the number and value of ivory items sold each year, the annual income of the companies, their staffing levels, and alternative products they could make. The researchers also want to find out what the companies think about a ban. So far, they’ve visited 72 companies and plan to take in ten more by the end of the year.

The working group will use this information to analyze the feasibility of providing compensation to the industry.

The group is also examining timing options, as there’s concern that if the gap between the announcement of a ban and its implementation is too long, it will trigger speculation and stockpiling of ivory, which in turn could lead to ivory prices spiraling higher. And that could spur more elephant poaching.

“There’s a theory that speculation is already an important factor driving demand,” says Jonathan Barzdo, former CITES Secretariat chief of governing bodies and special adviser on CITES implementation. “It seems that speculators put it in storage in expectation of elephant populations continuing to decline, so ivory continues to increase in value. They’re banking on the extinction of the elephant.”

A September 2015 analysis of ivory demand drivers done for SNAP by Daniel Stiles reports that the stockpiling of raw ivory for speculative purposes in China is the primary driver of the current elephant poaching crisis—rather than consumer demand for worked ivory, as commonly assumed.

Stiles suggests that 1,000 metric tons of illegal raw ivory is likely stored in Chinese warehouses, with more secreted away in Africa or other Asian countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam.

A recent report by the Kenya-based NGO Save the Elephants found that raw ivory prices in China dropped from an average of $2,100 per kilogram ($952 per pound) in the four years up to 2014 to $1,100 by November 2015. It suggested that this collapse resulted from the government’s announced intent to close its ivory market, along with increased consumer awareness and a general economic slowdown.

But Stiles, in a December 12 essay on LinkedIn, says the drop is the result of lower overall commodity prices, combined with China’s anti-corruption campaign, which has reduced prices for all luxury goods. He says it’s important to consider what will happen with the 1,000 tons of ivory held by speculators.

The SNAP working group will assess the implications of speculation under several scenarios, such as a five-year ban, a 10-year ban, and a permanent one. “We will analyze the weakness, risk, and benefits of each of those time lines,” Kang explains.

“There’s a lot of talk about a ban, but nobody has thought about what happens after the ban,” says Tien Ming Lee, a U.S.-based researcher working with the group. The group “will examine post-ban scenarios and generate numbers to see what is gained and what is lost.”

That’s why it’s critical to “have the working group led by people who are from China,” he says. “They’re knowledgeable about the trade locally and aware of the concerns of those who are involved in the trade.”

Laurel Neme, Ph.D., is a freelance journalist and author of Animal Investigators: How the World’s First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species and Orangutan Houdini. Follow her on Twitter.

_