Section 1 — Prohibition on dealing in ivory
This version in force from 2022-06-06
Snapshot: 2026-08-24
Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .
(1) Dealing in ivory is prohibited.
(2) “Dealing” in ivory means—
(a) buying, selling or hiring it;
(b) offering or arranging to buy, sell or hire it;
(c) keeping it for sale or hire;
(d) exporting it from the United Kingdom for sale or hire;
(e) importing it into the United Kingdom for sale or hire.
(3) For the purposes of this section—
(a) buying includes acquiring for valuable consideration;
(b) selling includes disposing of for valuable consideration;
(c) offering includes advertising and inviting to treat.
(4) In subsection (2)—
(a) a reference in paragraph (b) to buying or hiring ivory does not include buying ivory, or hiring it as the borrower, outside the United Kingdom;
(b) a reference in paragraph (b) or (c) to selling or hiring ivory includes selling ivory, or hiring it as the lender, outside the United Kingdom.
(5) In this section “ivory” includes—
(a) an item made of ivory;
(b) an item that has ivory in it.
(6) Sections 2 and 6 to 9 set out exceptions to the prohibition.