Monday, October 20th, 2008

eBay To Institute Global Ban on Ivory Sales

One thing I have found fascinating over my first year here at eBay is the variety of topics covered in both email and in meetings. Beyond the typical marketing or PR planning meetings there are hundreds of different policies and rules in place regarding what can or cannot be sold in the marketplace. Each policy change requires careful deliberation of the pros and cons before instituting. (I remember one email chain a few months back about a cornflake shaped liked the state of Illinois!).

Last week I was included in a discussion about the sale of ivory on eBay. This is a particularly complex issue that a team inside the company has been looking at for some time, in consultation with a number of stakeholders. Now, I’m not one to get political on this blog but I do feel quite strongly about the ivory trade. Global demand for ivory has long been a significant factor in the poaching of African and Asian elephants, driving these species towards extinction – to such a degree that both types of elephants are now considered endangered or protected species. As such, trade in ivory derived from African and Asian elephants is highly regulated by a complex set of laws, treaties and regulations. I learned last week that while domestic laws vary, 171 countries came together about 10 years ago to ratify the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (known as CITES), which generally prohibits international trade in endangered plants and animals, and products derived from them.

Virtually every country, including the United States, has passed laws restricting or prohibiting the sale of ivory, and within the US, 22 states have laws on the books regulating this trade. The cornerstone law in the US is the 1973 Endangered Species Act, which generally prohibits the import, export, possession, and sale of species or parts of species listed as endangered or threatened in interstate or foreign commerce. This Act also implements the restrictions and prohibitions of CITES into US law.

eBay recognizes the distinct responsibilities that come along with the unique attributes of our global marketplace. That’s why, in keeping with the principles established under CITES, eBay banned cross-border sales of ivory in 2007. This ban tried to balance the protection of endangered and protected species while also providing a way for sellers to offer legitimate ivory products legally allowed for sale within domestic markets. However, given the complexities of the global ivory trade, and the distinct and unique characteristics of the eBay Marketplace, the sale of any ivory on our site continued to be a concern within the company and among stakeholders.

The team continued to monitor the issue. Hence the meeting I was called into last week. In reviewing this issue, eBay has consulted with a number of organizations, including World Wildlife Fund, International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Humane Society of the United States, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The team concluded that we simply can’t ensure that ivory listed for sale on eBay is in compliance with the complex regulations that govern its sale. So, to protect our buyers and sellers, as well as animals in danger of extinction, eBay has decided to institute a global ban on the sale of all types of ivory. This global ban will be effective January 1, 2009.

I was able to spend a few minutes with Jack Christin, Sr. Regulatory Counsel for eBay Inc. to discuss this further. Our resulting conversation is below.

Cheers,
RBH

Why has eBay decided to ban ivory sales?
eBay already had stringent regulations in place for the sale of ivory, which is regulated by a complex set of laws and treaties. Due to the unique nature of eBay’s global online marketplace and the complexity surrounding the sale of ivory, we will be rolling out a complete ban of the sale of ivory on eBay. We feel this is the best way to protect the endangered and protected species from which a significant portion of ivory products are derived.

As with all policy changes, this one will take some time to roll out. As we roll-out this change, we will continue to work with a number of international and domestic law enforcement authorities with any investigations they initiate into suspicious ivory sales on eBay sites. We will begin enforcing this global ban in January 2009.

So what’s different now to the original policy?
eBay is a global online marketplace so we are constantly looking at ways to streamline our policies.

Over the years we have adapted and evolved our policies globally to reflect the highly regulated nature of ivory and products made from ivory, and we have worked with a number of international and domestic law enforcement authorities, like the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and non-governmental organizations, like the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Humane Society of the United States and World Wildlife Fund. These agencies and organizations have expertise in this area and have provided incredibly useful information to us as we have continued to re-evaluate our ivory policy.

However, due to the unique nature of eBay’s global online marketplace and the growing complexity of the rules and regulations surrounding the sale of legal ivory, we will be moving from a ban on cross-border sales to rolling out a complete ban of the sale of ivory on eBay. This policy is actually consistent with our general approach to the sale of items made from parts of animals — items made from a part of an endangered or protected species cannot be sold on eBay. Since a vast majority of ivory items are made from African and Asian elephants that are endangered or protected, we think this is the right approach to take for our community.

When will this be put into effect?
This policy change will take place in December 2008 and will be enforced from January 2009.

Is this simply a reactionary response to the report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare?
We’ve consulted with a number of stakeholders, including folks from IFAW both here in the U.S. and globally. We are constantly adapting and evolving our policies globally. Over the years, we have collaborated on our policy regarding ivory with a number of international and domestic law enforcement authorities, including the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and non-governmental organizations, like the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Humane Society of the United States and World Wildlife Fund. All of these organizations and agencies have assisted us in understanding this issue.

We are already in dialogue with a number of international and domestic law enforcement authorities and have already informed our key contacts about the planned policy change and their reaction has been supportive.

Will the ban on ivory sales include items which happen to include ivory, such as antique furniture with an ivory inlay or old pianos with keys made from ivory?
We will allow some antique items that contain a small amount of ivory, such as a table with a small ivory inlay or an antique piano with ivory keys. We define “antique” for the sale of items that contain a small amount of ivory as pre-1900.

Items which contain a significant amount of ivory, regardless of the age, such as chess sets, ivory broaches and ivory jewelry are not permitted under the new policy.

Do you take action against sellers who are breaking the law?
We work closely with international and domestic law enforcement authorities, including the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and will assist them with any investigations they initiate.

Does this mean you are now looking at other policies and changing them more than what is legally required?
Our global team of legal and policy experts constantly review, refresh and streamline our policies closely collaborating with international and domestic law enforcement authorities, regulatory agencies, non-governmental organizations and our community of buyers and sellers.

How does this affect genuine ivory sellers who want to sell it on eBay? What about buyers who want to buy legal ivory on eBay?
We already had stringent regulations in place for the sale of ivory. However, due to the unique nature of eBay’s global online marketplace and the growing complexity of the rules and regulations surrounding the sale of ivory, we decided to roll out a complete ban of the sale of ivory on eBay to protect our buyers, sellers, and the endangered and protected species from which ivory is derived.

We know this may have an impact on some sellers so are communicating the policy changes directly with them prior to the new policy being implemented. This policy change will take place in December 2008 and enforced from January 2009.

Tagged: botswana, CITES, Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, ebay, ebay in, elephant, Endangered Species Act, Humane Society of the United States, IFAW, ivory, US Fish and Wildlife Service, USFWS, World Wildlife Fund, WWF

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68 Responses on this post. Click to add yours.

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Sue @ TameBayOn 10.20.2008 at 12:34 pm Said:

Excellent news!

bordenOn 10.20.2008 at 3:34 pm Said:

Too bad ebay has not decided to be responsible for ALL of the other atrocities on it’s site. Just pick an animal name, like “monkey”, then add “skin”, “fur”, “paw”, “hide” etc. to it and do a search to see the abhorrent items ebay CHOOSES to make profits from…WARNING, if you have a weak stomach and/or are an animal activist, these will be very difficult to view. This type of profiteering, only makes ebay’s “eco-friendly” site look like nothing more than a publicity stunt.

GaryOn 10.20.2008 at 4:16 pm Said:

I’m sorry, but perhaps you could explain to me how not allowing me to sell a piece of scrimshaw carved from a walrus tusk in 1820 is going to save a single elephant.

What ever happened to plain old common sense?

lisaOn 10.21.2008 at 2:12 am Said:

It is exactly this thinking Gary, that leads to the illegal poaching of elephants. ‘New’ ivory is disguised as ‘antique’ and sold around the world. If people did not buy any ivory, there would be no market for the poachers.

GazLanNaThaiOn 10.21.2008 at 4:34 am Said:

Richard

Do you think you could find time to investigate how this will affect “vegetable ivory” - this refers to ivory-like carvings from the tagua nut which is the fruit of a particular palm tree, and when carved looks exactly like new ivory to non-experts.

More info about the “vegetable ivory” trade here - http://www.tierramerica.net/2002/1103/iacentos.shtml

And an excellent example of the products here - http://www.taguanutivory.com/

This is becoming an increasingly important product in the third world, and is providing diversion employment for the tens of thousands of former animal ivory carvers, preventing descent into absolute poverty.

Given eBay’s abysmal record (recently) of using bot-driven search and removal of non-compliant listings, I am seriously concerned that the eBay systems cannot differentiate between perfectly legal tagua nut ivory and the illegal animal parts ivory.

Many thanks
Garry

DarraghCassidyOn 10.21.2008 at 5:30 am Said:

Brilliant news, hopefully a start to more moral and ethical trading.
Gary……I’m afraid plain old common sense makes your disgusting piece of scrimshaw (what ever that is) non saleable and pointless-at last.

Kevan CoxOn 10.21.2008 at 5:45 am Said:

I’m glad ebay have implemented this near blanket ban on ivory. I buy and sell antiques, including ivory, and still see this as a good thing because genuine antique lovers have many other markets open to them which allow the obvious common sense approach and manage to keep out unscrupulous animal and wildlife products. Well done ebay, and lets see further wildlife product bans.

CharlesOn 10.21.2008 at 5:59 am Said:

Gary: because it is quite easy to take a modern tusk and “antique” it so that it appears to be from 1820.

KelOn 10.21.2008 at 8:57 am Said:

1 word

R I D I C U L O U S

The sale of antique ivory specimens has no direct effect on the trade in illegal ivory,furthermore elephants are only 1 of many species which produce ivory,,,stopping its sale on ebay wont make the millions of ivory products made pre 1947 dissapear,and it wont stop it being bought and sold LEGALLY,,,,,collectors and dealers in antique ivory have no interest in buying or selling modern ivory,if they did they would be buying and selling the mammoth ivory and tagua examples.
I also think its very biased that certain ivory products will be allowed such as piano keys and inlaid articles,this is just victimisation of legitimate traders who actively suppourt the ban in modern ivory,,its ridiculous,,,
whatever next ebay,perhaps a ban on the sale of leather products such as shoes,handbags,sofas hats,,or perhaps a ban on articles carved from ox bone,,maybe next year a ban on all diamond jewellery unless you can prove its none conflict,,,,where will it end

LouiseOn 10.21.2008 at 9:48 am Said:

Kel - I think that has been more than answered above. Demand for antique ivory increases the potential for unscrupulous modern sellers to poach and disguise it as antique ivory. An example - I have an antique rabbit fur coat in my cupboard but do not as a rule wear it. I have no interest in wearing fur nor to promote the fur trade, and although I accept the rabbit died nearly fifty years ago, I still wouldn’t advertise fur to anyone around me. (I don’t disagree with wearing fur in cold climates but I don’t live in Siberia.)

Leather is a farmed material. Until such time as you can farm elephants for their tusks, then please understand there is a huge difference.

Go and sell it somewhere else.

PaulaOn 10.21.2008 at 11:45 am Said:

Thank you Richard, thank you, thank you, thank you for caring about elephants. We have been blogging about elephants, ivory and illegal trade for some time. Its just disgusting what his happening to our elephants in Africa and Asia as a result of greed - for what a pair of chopsticks!? Stupid trinkets. We need more people like you there to help guide the corporate world to make better decisions. And please go further than ivory in your quest to do what’s right for wildlife. May you stay at Ebay for many many years! From all of us at WildlifeDirect

kelOn 10.21.2008 at 12:30 pm Said:

Firstly Louise,without being rude,,you dont actually understand the topic you speak about,you are merely speaking from your heart and not evaluating facts.

CITES,actually sold hundreds of tons of ivory recently for manufacture,why do you think that was,,,if elephants were endangered do you honestly think this would have been allowed,

Propoganda leads us to believe that elephants are “endangered”,,this however is a misconception,they are “protected” and there is a big difference,,,the African elephants numbers are so great now that there is actually cullings going on right this very minute,not something that would be happening if elephants were in fact endangered.
Propoganda leads us to believe in misconceptions,elephant numbers were low in the 1980,s,,today in 2008 the numbers have increased dramatically,so much so that cullings have been sanctioned,,you are not told about this because its an inconvenient truth because elephants are the best money earner for all the welfare groups such as WWF and IFAW.
Another pointer which really peeves me is when people say “ivory can be easily aged”,,well the answer is no,it cant be aged,ivory can only age with time,if an idiot decided to try and age a piece of ivory,it would instantly be recognisable to any trained eye,,and at the end of the day its antique dealers and collectors who would buy it so they would know instantly,,,,,i would love to know why so many of you incorrectly believe you can age it,and believe its easy,,is that perhaps because you have tried,,no,its because you have been told it by eddie the elephant hugger,,so you believe it.
Another thing that makes me laugh is the fact that you are all so blissfully unaware at how much antique ivory there is out there,its been carved for thousands of years,each tusk making hundreds upon hundreds of items,,i can go to any antique shop,any antique fair and buy antique ivory,,so why would i want to buy modern examples,,modern examples very scacely emerge and when they do they are usually made from mammoth ivory or hippo ivory

Open your eyes to the propoganda

But finally what you need to understand is that saying antique ivory causes the death of modern elephants,the people who buy antiques buy them for the fact they are old,,its ridiculous,,.
Can you imagine a collector of antique furniture filling his house with Ikea furniture,,NO,, can you imagine a collector of art deco figures filling his house with plastic reproductions,,its ridiculous.

AshOn 10.21.2008 at 12:53 pm Said:

Will this ban affect FOSSIL ivory? This is not antique ivory, and it is not from elephants - it is legally dug up from the ground in the arctic by aboriginal peoples, ie. Inuits and Eskimos, many of whom depend on the income they get from collecting and selling the fossil ivory. Fossil ivory is usually between 500 and 15,000 years old, depending on the type. It comes from both extinct mammoths and mastodons, as well as from the tusks and teeth of walruses. The walrus ivory is mostly found in old village sites, and much has already been worked into something hundreds or thousands of years ago, and is sold as artifacts. These pieces are often small and usually made into incredibly beautiful jewelry.

Fossil ivory is not white, it ranges from a deep cream color to completely black, as a result of it’s years buried in the ice and soil in the arctic. When polished, it has a wonderful gleam and soft feel that cannot be found in anything else.

Will the ban include fossil ivory, and jewelry made from it? What about knives that have fossil ivory handles - they are very common. The fossil walrus teeth that are hundreds of years old that many native peoples sell as a primary source of income?

Or, just elephant ivory? (which I commend - and would like to see a ban on wolf skins, too, btw)

AshOn 10.21.2008 at 1:39 pm Said:

Thought you might find this helpful -

Here is a good article discussing fossil MAMMOTH ivory:
Trade in mammoth ivory, helped by global thaw, flourishes in Russia

Quote:
“The trade, bolstered recently by global warming, which has melted the tundra and exposed more frozen remains, is not only legal but actually endorsed by conservationists. They note somewhat grudgingly that while the survival of elephants may be in question, it is already too late for mammoths. Mammoth ivory from Siberia, they say, meets some of the Asian demand for illegal elephant ivory and its trade should be encouraged.”

CharlieOn 10.21.2008 at 1:48 pm Said:

Listen people, it is so very very naive to think that just because Ebay bans the alpha and omega of ivory products that will have any effect on poaching……zero. I lived in Tanzania and I can assure you those poaching and those buying have a sell on ebay the farthest from their mind and transaction. You all sound like ivory is something you pull out of your garage and say “hey if I make money from this old chess set then I need to go get some more maybe I can shoot some elephants?” There is not one person on Ebay selling ivory that is even remotely related to poaching.

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