CITES

An antique narwhal tusk that faced destruction following a dispute over paperwork has been returned to its owner after a judge ruled its confiscation by customs had been “unreasonable”.

A leading CITES lawyer has criticised DEFRA’s “wholesale failure” to alert the public to law changes, after a court fined a jeweller £2000 for selling antique tiger claw pendants.

The burden of proof in CITES court cases should now switch from the defence to the prosecution, says a lawyer who has just won an important victory on the matter.

Lawyer ANDREW BANKS reviews three recent CITES cases and considers what we might learn from them...

Embroiled in the debate regarding the rights and wrongs of selling elephant ivory works of art, Chiswick Auctions have become the first UK saleroom to stop almost all sales of ivory – regardless of age.

Magistrates have fined a West London auction house £3200 for breaching the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) (CITES) Regulations 1997.

A West London auction house is facing court, charged with the sale of a modern elephant ivory carving under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) (CITES) Regulations 1997.

More than 80 lots of Danish rosewood furniture were withdrawn from Sworder’s January 28 sale of Decorative Art and Design after advice that their sale contravened the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.

Whitehall officials overseeing CITES enforcement have removed guidelines from their website after conceding that they are confusing.

The Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers held a seminar titled ‘CITES, What’s Going On?’ in London on September 2 attended by more than 40 members.

A top official from the Border Agency has been added to the list of speakers at SOFAA’s September 2 seminar on the impact of the new endangered species guidelines.

The Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers (SOFAA) will hold a CPD seminar on Monday, September 2, titled ‘CITES – What’s Going On?’

New rules governing trade in the parts of endangered species will hit the antiques trade harder than first thought.

New guidance from the European Commission has significantly tightened CITES rules, effectively banning the sale of a far wider range of antiques linked to endangered species.

RESTRICTIONS surrounding the export of rhino horn from countries within the European Union have been further tightened to include all items, whether or not they have been ‘worked’.

THE Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have issued further important guidelines regarding the sale of antique rhinoceros horn.

MOST antiques that include the “parts and derivatives” of endangered species enjoy an exemption from CITES controls known as the “worked item” derogation.

Could it be that common sense has broken out in the interpretation of the complex laws regarding the sale of antique rhinoceros horns?

THE controversial Treasury-led proposals to radically increase CITES licence charges will not come into effect until next year at the earliest. In some cases CITES permits, required for the export outside the European Union of antiques incorporating ivory and other elements of endangered species, are to rise from £7 for each permit (among the lowest in Europe) to as much as £59 (the highest).