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You must have an exemption to deal in items made of or containing ivory from the following species listed in the Ivory Act 2018:

• elephant
• hippopotamus
• killer whale
• narwhal
• sperm whale

You are dealing in ivory if you:

• buy, sell or hire out an ivory item including trading or swapping it with something that has value or for a discount
• offer or arrange to buy, sell or hire out an ivory item including advertising and inviting an offer, or displaying it for sale in a shop or gallery
• keep an ivory item for sale or hire
• cause, arrange or help someone else to buy, sell or hire out an ivory item
• import or export an ivory item to or from the UK to buy, or for sale or hire

When you need to register or apply for an exemption

You must register or apply for an exemption for an item made of or containing a listed ivory species:

• to sell or hire it out now, or in the future
• before you import, export or re-export it to or from the UK you should also check other rules that apply to your item, including rules on trading in endangered species

Buying or hiring an item

If youre buying or hiring an item thats made of or contains a listed ivory species, you must check its registered or certified as exempt before you take ownership of it.

Read?the guidance about buying or hiring ivory, and what to do if youre a new owner.

When you do not need an exemption

You do not need to register or apply for an exemption if you:

• are a qualifying museum selling or hiring out an item to another qualifying museum (find more details in the Qualifying museums section)
• own an item made of or containing a listed ivory species but do not want to deal in it
• deal in ivory from species that are not listed in the Ivory Act 2018 you may need to follow other rules, for example for items made of walrus ivory
• are dealing outside the UK, and no part of the transaction takes place in the UK

If you do not want to deal in an item made of or containing a listed ivory species, or your registration is cancelled, you can:

• keep it for personal use
• give it away as a gift
• leave it to someone in your will
• lend it if no payment, exchange or barter is involved

Check which exemption you need

You can either:

• register an item under a standard exemption
• apply for an exemption certificate if the item was made before 1918 and has outstandingly high artistic, cultural or historic value

You should check the item is eligible for the exemption youre registering or applying for.

If you know which exemption you need, you can start your registration or exemption certificate application.

Standard exemptions

You can register an item under a standard exemptionif it meets one of the following criteria, it is:

• a musical instrument made before 1975 with less than 20% ivory by volume
• made before 3 March 1947 with less than 10% ivory by volume, where all the ivory is integral
• a portrait miniature made before 1918 with a total surface area of no more than 320 square centimetres
• being sold or hired out to a qualifying museum

It costs 20 to register an item.

If youre selling or hiring out an item thats previously been registered under a standard exemption, youll need to re-register it.

Exemption certificate

You can apply for an exemption certificate if both conditions apply to your item:

• it was made before 1918
• its of outstandingly high artistic, cultural or historic value

This means the item will usually be a rare and important example of its type.

Applications for exemption certificates cost 250.

This fee covers:

• an initial review of each application by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
• assessment by an expert

Assessments take approximately 3 months. You cannot sell or hire out your item until you have received the exemption certificate.

You must notify APHA if youre selling or hiring out an item thats previously been certified.

Sets and groups of items

Sets

Items are considered a set if all the objects were:

• produced at the same time with the intention of being kept and used together
• part of the same original set for example a teapot with an ivory knob thats part of a tea set, or a knife and sheath

You can use the ivory service to:

• register a set of items as a single item registrations cost 20
• apply for an exemption certificate for a set of items as a single item applications cost 250

Groups

You can register between 3 and 20 items that are not a set under a group registration.

You can pay a reduced registration fee if both of the following apply:

• all items are part of the same transaction, and youre selling or hiring them out to the same person
• each item in the group qualifies for the same standard exemption, for example, a group of pre-1918 portrait miniatures

You cannot use the ivory service to register a group of items.You should emailivoryact@apha.gov.ukto request an application form.

Youll need to tell us which standard exemption you want to register your items under in your email. The cost of registering a group of items is 50.

You cannot apply for an exemption certificate for a group of items.

Check your item is eligible

You need to check and provide information that your item meets the eligibility criteria for the exemption youre registering or applying for.

To check eligibility criteria, you can either:

• read guidance on this page
• use theonline ivory eligibility checker the checker will ask you a series of questions to help you check which exemption you need

You should also check additional information if youre applying for an exemption certificate for an item made before 1918 with outstandingly high artistic, cultural or historic value.

Added or replacement ivory

Ivory thats been added to an item or used to replace other material on an item can be from any species, including extinct species such as mammoth.

If the added or replacement ivory is from a listed species it must have been:

• taken from the listed ivory species before 1975
• added only to restore the item

This applies to items under all exemptions.

Item age

For all exemptions, except if youre selling or hiring out an item to a qualifying museum, you should provide evidence to show how old your item is.

You can use different methods to verify the age of an item, including:

• getting evidence of the items provenance (place of origin or earliest known history)
• having its age verified by an expert
• getting it radiocarbon dated

Evidence of provenance could include:

• an original dated receipt or bill to show when it was manufactured, sold or repaired
• a dated catalogue, newspaper article or published article containing photographs or detailed descriptions of the item
• a date mark on the item
• information known by the owner or another person, for example, that the owner inherited the item before the relevant date

An expert who can provide written verification of the items date could include:

• an antiques specialist
• a museum curator or arts specialist recognised by a relevant trade association, representative body or similar organisation
• someone who deals in ivory

Percentage volume

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