I think that perhaps the Ivory is still for value and Chinese support is very much a political issuye as stated above - be on my side.
The purchase of weapons does not have the same value as years back and the Ivory trade will not bring enought or similar value for weapons or overheads spent on war equipment which is very expensive.
Weapons are mainly politically based.

Ivory I peronally believe is for pure open trade.

I just thought of something - correct me if I am wrong...

If any of us wish to purchase a carving in Kenya and maybe this is also so in TZ (- Bwanamich?) - and the carving is made out of Ebony, does not the person who sells this wood need to have a document or license to have this wood?
I cannot recall if I read this somewhere or if I was told this.

Why cant a similar law be placed into the Ivory sale - if someone purchases Ivory, then at least they know where it comes from and a control can be made. Perhaps this can help????

As far as I know this law/rule exists but no-one gives a d***
At least if you wish to sell ivory on e-bay, you need to have a document that prooves that either:

- The seller has documentary proof that the item is older than 1st June 1947, the proof is included in the listing, and the item is in a significantly worked form; or

- The item is accompanied by an Article 10 certificate as issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), or a Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and such certificate is included in the listing.

The problem are organized criminals that involve government officials for large scale trade. (Hence they also get the required papers for it).

Hi Carsten:

I haven't been on eBay for several years, but when I regularly was, I can tell you that there was a lot of ivory jewelry for sale with no mention of any document. This may have changed, but at that time it wasn't any concern at all.

The regulations are fairly new, Jan, but apart from their existance they have difficulties checking on offers submitted.

Definitely a lot more that needs to be done to control the trade on the internet.

I had a quick look, only Hong Kong based suppliers mention certificates, but it was a quick look.

Now, OK! If anyone knows the regulations for sure I'm perfectly willing to do my bit by notifying eBay UK after asking the sellers for certification.
Let's all do it for our own regions, we may not achieve much but at least we do more than talk about it!
As a matter of interest China want to make the selling of tiger parts legal.

They now farm tigers!