“This is a complex problem that needs to be solved sensitively”: Lord Carrington speaks in Parliamentary debate on the proposed ivory ban

In this video of edited highlights from the speech, he mentions the potential difficulties in defining which items are of museum quality and could allowed to be traded. He also addresses some of the implications of the ‘de minimis’ rule (where the trade in items containing only a small proportion of antique ivory would still be permitted).

The government consultation, which closed on December 29, proposed four potential exemptions: musical instruments; items containing only a small proportion of ivory (the de minimis rule); items of significant artistic, cultural and historic value; and sales to and between museums.

House of Lords debates ivory question