I received this information last night in an email from where I have been purchasing my ivory for my Trumpet calls.
Dear Folks,
As you may have heard, the US Fish & Wildlife Dept. has put a regulation into place that takes effect on July 6, 2016. This regulation affects the sale of pre-ban African elephant ivory in "interstate commerce". This regulation does not affect commerce within any state (intrastate commerce) so we are currently very busy filling orders for customers who are looking to store up legal ivory for future intended sales in their state.
We will conclude all sales to ship out by June 29th so there will be ample time for the ivory to arrive at your location prior to the July 6th date.
The new regulation, as far as is evident to me, forbids the interstate sale of ivory in the US unless the item qualifies as an ESA (Endangered Species Act) antique OR if the item meets the "de minimis" exception. Below are the requirements of these two exemptions:
1) To qualify for the ESA antiques exemption, an item must meet all of the following criteria [seller/importer/exporter must demonstrate]:
A. It is 100 years or older.
B. It is composed in whole or in part of an ESA-listed species;
C. It has not been repaired or modified with any such species after December 27, 1973; and
D. It is being or was imported through an endangered species "antique port."
Under Director's Order No. 210, as a matter of enforcement discretion, items imported prior to September 22, 1982, and items created in the United States and never imported must comply with elements A, B, and C above, but not element D.
2) To qualify for the de minimis exception, manufactured or handcrafted items must meet all of the following criteria:
(i) If the item is located within the United States, the ivory was imported into the United States prior to January 18, 1990, or was imported into the United States under a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) pre-Convention certificate with no limitation on its commercial use;
(ii) If the item is located outside the United States, the ivory was removed from the wild prior to February 26, 1976;
(iii) The ivory is a fixed or integral component or components of a larger manufactured or handcrafted item and is not in its current form the primary source of the value of the item, that is, the ivory does not account for more than 50 percent of the value of the item;
(iv) The ivory is not raw;
(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;
(vi) The total weight of the ivory component or components is less than 200 grams; and
(vii) The item was manufactured or handcrafted before the effective date of this rule.
Here is a link to the full regulation:
http://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/final-rule-african-elephant-4d.pdfWhat this means for most of us is that items made with pre-ban ivory can only enter interstate commerce if they are small parts ( cue stick parts, piano keys, gun grips , etc. ) that are part of a larger item (such as a gun or cue stick) and the ivory was from pre-ban (pre-1990) tusks AND the item was made prior to July 6th, 2016. It appears that any ivory item can sell after July 6th within a state (intrastate commerce) so long as it was pre-ban ( pre-1990) ivory.
Please feel free to email with questions and please place your orders early as we are very busy with requests. No sales to WA , NY or NJ.
Our website link is given below to purchase your pre-ban ivory. We will continue to offer our high grade cattle bone parts and fossil ivory parts as they are unaffected by this regulation.
Sincerely ,
David Warther
David Warther & Co.
2561 Crestview Dr. NW
Dover , Ohio
44622
Phone : 330-343-1865
www.guitarpartsandmore.com ( website )
