eBay under pressure to act on ivory sales

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is calling on eBay to take further steps to curb the illegal sale of ivory on eBay.

Under the law, Ivory produced before 1947 is legal but must have appropriate certification and must not have been reworked since then. Campaigners have noted that sellers are not listing ilegal ivory as ivory but rather trying to pass it off as “faux ivory” or ox bone.

Tania McCrea-Steele, IFAW’s campaigns manager, said: “We are concerned that some people have been blatantly trying to get round the eBay ban by disguising their items. We are pleased to see the police have taken a proactive approach.”

“It may be that there are people who do not understand the consequences, or who do not understand the law so we are talking to eBay about ways in which they can improve consumer awareness on their website. One idea is pop-ups on their site to make people aware of the legislation.”

“We see a lot of people trading in wildlife products and we want to make sure they understand.”

Of course, eBay actually bans the sale of ivory with two exceptions pre-1900 piano keys and pre-1900 funiture inlaid with ivory. You can read the various wildlife policies here.

eBay have commented on the campaign: “eBay works closely with conservation groups, many of whom recognise the significant steps we take to stop the sale of ivory products. We proactively enforce our policy and quickly take action to remove listings of items of concern. We are also committed to educating sellers of our site guidelines.”