PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Ivory: Sales (2 December 2016)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the amount of ivory that will no longer be bought and sold in the UK market as a result of the ban of post-1947 ivory sales.

Asked by:
Rachael Maskell (Labour)

Although the proposed ban on sales of ivory less than 70 years old is expected to have a relatively modest impact on volumes of trade, the global trade for modern ivory is more likely to fuel demand and provide a means of laundering fresh ivory from illegally-killed elephants than trade in older items. We want to send a strong signal, both within the UK and internationally, that ivory is not desirable and that legal domestic trade in ivory should be stopped where it is contributing to poaching and trafficking. Closing the market for UK sales of ivory less than 70 years old will be an important way of doing this.

Answered by:
Dr Thérèse Coffey (Conservative)
7 December 2016