A licensing scheme of the kind proposed by BAMF would mean all antiques wholly or largely composed of ivory could only be offered for sale if accompanied by a certificate.
But how would the exemption for ‘items of artistic, cultural, or historic significance’ (one generally opposed by animal welfare groups) operate in practice?
BAMF suggests that the criteria should be collectively defined as objects of ‘museum quality’ – a definition used since 1975 in connection with objects qualifying for conditional exemption from inheritance tax.