The difficulty seems to be the accurate dating of solid ivory but the date of an object that contains ivory is a relatively simple matter.
The manufacture of a tea caddy for example – and I must have had a thousand in my time – is easy to date.
A suitable penalty for misleading or inaccurate information would surely satisfy the provisions of any new law.
My message to lawmakers is this: leave the certification of items made solely of ivory to specialist, registered dealers and license them if you must, but leave the rest of the trade alone.
The proposed banning of all sales of ivory is ludicrous and the product of an impoverished intellectual mind.
Geoff Yeo (now retired but still interested)
Wilmslow, Cheshire
