Monday 6th June is ivory day, when the UK Ivory Act passed in 2018 finally comes into enforcement. It’s been a long road, but we finally now have the information we need to understand the implications for our industry. That’s important, because any breach of the Act could result in a fine of up to £250,000 and/or up to 5 years imprisonment, and you can guarantee that any checking up will mostly be on retailers and restorers as potential sitting targets. The rules apply to everyone though, including those selling or buying an instrument privately.
The gist of the Act is that from 6th June it will be illegal to trade in any items containing elephant ivory. It is important to note that APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency) assumes all ivory has come from elephants unless you can absolutely prove otherwise.
Everyone associates ivory with piano keys so I’m sure you will understand me mostly referring to this, but there are examples of ivory having been used in the making of other musical instruments including vintage guitars with ivory fret boards, antique boxwood clarinets with ivory joints, and violin bows with ivory tips.
Is the instrument exempt?
The good news is there is an exemption for musical instruments made before 1975 with less than 20% ivory by material volume. Empty space doesn’t count when calculating that percentage, but it doesn’t take a degree in material sciences to work out that most instruments will meet that criterion.
If the instrument was made from 1975 onwards and contains any ivory, no matter how small the amount, it can’t be traded as it is and there is no exemption. Making the instrument legal for any trading will require any ivory content to be replaced with a synthetic alternative. Whilst many piano makers had predominantly moved to using synthetic key coverings by 1975 (including Steinway who were front-runners in this), some European makers continued to use ivory to some extent until the CITES ban came into force in 1989.
How you date the instrument is crucial and needs to be included in your application. An identifying mark or serial number is accepted (piano people, this is where your Piano Atlas once again becomes an indispensable friend), as is assessment by an expert or (extreme and possibly expensive) carbon dating.
Exemption isn’t automatic
I’ll cut to the chase. All pre-1975 musical instruments containing ivory must be individually registered for exemption before they can be subject to any transaction. This means that until the instrument is registered, it is illegal to:
- Buy the instrument
- Accept the instrument in part-exchange
- Offer the instrument for sale or hire (this includes displaying the instrument in store or online)
- Sell the instrument
- Hire the instrument
- Facilitate any of the above
An instrument can be registered at this Government website, and to complete the registration you will need to provide:
- Photographs showing that elephant ivory makes up less than 20% of the material volume of the item, and any distinguishing features (including any serial number)
- Evidence of the date the instrument was manufactured
- Confirmation, if relevant, that any ivory content added to the instrument since 1975 was taken from the elephant before 1975 and has been used only for the purposes of restoration. This will be very hard to prove, but thankfully a rare situation
- A declaration that in your opinion the item meets the exemption criteria and an explanation of how
- A description of any intended trading (sale, hire, export?)
- Payment of a £20 administration fee
Remember, the Act includes any instruments which are already in your stock. If these instruments are in any way advertised, displayed, or offered for sale, exchange or hire, you need to assess them and apply for exemption now, ahead of 6th June.
Buying instruments or taking in part exchange
If you buy an instrument, offer it for sale or hire on behalf of a customer, or take it in part-exchange, you need proof that the owner has registered the instrument for exemption. This also applies if you provide a selling platform for private sales or list the instrument in print on behalf of a 3rd party, as facilitating a transaction in any way makes you liable. If you sell an instrument to a customer using a certain well-known online auction site, for example, all 3 parties are liable.
Once you’ve purchased a registered instrument or taken it in part exchange you will still need to apply for a new exemption to offer the instrument for sale or hire (each registration covers only one change of ownership).
Restoration and re-builds
If the ivory key facings or any ivory features are original and have not been replaced in part or in full using ivory taken from an elephant post-1974 you can simply apply for exemption. This should be very easy to assess as ivory keys on even a particularly high-quality restoration will show their natural ageing. If you are unsure, you need to either trace the source and age of the replacement ivory (a time-consuming and likely futile challenge) or re-face the keys with a synthetic material.
Reclaimed ivory
The ability to sell or purchase ivory key facings removed from pianos of any period is effectively over as these will obviously fail to meet the exemption criteria. The only legal way to use these would be in replacing damaged ivory key facings on a piano made before 1975, in which case the ‘less than 20% volume’ criteria would be met. The exemption for the instrument in question would need to be applied for and the standards, including the age of the ivory, met.
Again, you may find it much more efficient to replace broken key facings with synthetic material.
CITES
If you are importing, exporting or re-exporting an instrument there are further international requirements under CITES regulations, as well as any local rules that may be enforced by other countries. I’m going to delve deeper into this quagmire, but our friends at NAMM are also concerned with ensuring the industry is updated with changes in regulations. We’ll share any updates from them with you also.
That’s all folks!
If you still haven’t had enough ivory talk in this blog I’m more than happy to answer any queries you may have (get in touch here). If you have questions I don’t confidently know the answer to, I’ll endeavor to find the answers.
