Additional guidance notes for antique dealers and auctioneers
You should read these guidance notes together with the general guidance notes for importers and
exporters (GN1), and the general guidance notes for commercial use within the European Union (GN2), where appropriate.
These notes are only for guidance and are not a full statement of the law. If you need points of law to be explained, you should get independent legal advice.
This page is available as a downloadable document here 
- Introduction
- Exemptions for antiques
- Imports and (Re-) Exports
- Documents
- Personal belongings of people who live in the EU
- General points
- Sale of unworked or raw elephant ivory
Introduction
Antique specimens, plant or animal either whole or as parts (eg teeth, bone, wood, veneers, feathers, tusks, shell, ivory piano keys etc) listed on Annex A or B of the Regulations will generally require import and export permits if they are to be moved into or out of the European Union.
Antiques are defined in Article 2 of Council Regulation EC 338/97. This says that we can treat specimens as an antique for CITES only if the material from the CITES-listed specimen that the antique contains has been used to make the antique before 1 June 1947. The antique must have been originally obtained in this condition and need no further carving, crafting or manufacture. For example, this could be an ivory inlay on a cabinet, or a piece of carved jewellery. Specimens originally obtained before this date, but which are substantially unaltered from their natural state, do not qualify for these exemptions. For example, a raw rhino horn would not qualify even if it could be shown to have been originally obtained before 1947. Also, a tiger-skin ‘rug’ originally obtained before 1947 may qualify if it could be shown that it was a genuine rug in its own right and not just a skin which could be used as a rug but could also be made into some other item at a later date.
Exemption for antiques
Antiques do not have to meet certain requirements of the Regulations.
- Commercial trade in Annex A specimens is allowed, although permits would be required if they are moved in or out of the EU.
- You do not need a certificate under Article 10 of the Regulations to sell antique Annex A specimens.
- We do not need to see the import permit issued by the destination country for exporting or re-exporting CITES appendix I specimens.
- We do not need to see the permit issued by the exporting country for importing Annex B specimens, nor does the management authority have to consider whether there are any conservation reasons why the permit should not be issued.
Imports and (Re-) Exports
All specimens listed on Annex A or B will require import and (re) report permits if they are to be moved to or from the EU unless they form part of your household effects. Please check with us if you are unsure.
Before granting an import permit for antique Annex A specimens we must be satisfied that:
- the specimens were legally bought in the country of origin; and
- there are no other conservation factors to prevent issuing the permit.
Similar conditions for applications for export or re-export permits for Annex A to C species.
Similar conditions for applications for export or re-export permits for Annex A to C species.
For imported dead Annex A specimens that are significantly worked, and were made after 1st June 1947, you may apply for an import permit that has a special condition applied allowing it to be used as a Transaction Specific Article 10 certificate (TSC). This means the item may sold once, by the person named on the permit.
Any subsequent sales will require further Article 10 certificates.
In addition, for certain registered people or organisations we may issue semi-complete (re-)export certificates and permits for specimens of species listed on Annex B – C. More details of this type of licence are again given in GN2, but essentially these are part completed carbonated documents part of which is left blank for you to fill in prior to the (re)export.
When have used the document, you are then required to return the completed pink copies to Animal Health immediately.
Documents
Your application must be supported by the following documents.
- We will need a copy of the permit issued by the exporting or re-exporting country for all applications to import Annex A specimens.
- For re-exports, we will need evidence to show that the specimens were imported into European Union in line with the relevant regulations or in line with CITES if they were imported before 1984, or confirmation that they were imported before the convention applied to them.
- For exports, evidence confirming that specimens were bought before June 1947. Please give an approximate date.
- You must tell the management authority if an application for a permit or certificate has been rejected by another European Union country.
- Sellers must be able to show that specimens sold are genuinely worked items originating before 1st June 1947.
Personal belongings of people who live in the EU
Special conditions apply to antiques that are part of a persons household effects. These are given in GN1. In some circumstances they may be allowed to export antiques without an export permit if they are part of their household effects. But if as a dealer, a customer asks you to export an item on their behalf, then an export permit and possibly an import permit will be required. However some countries interpret this differently to us, so please contact us for advice.
General Points
There are some general points that antique dealers may need to know:
- If permits or certificates are required, they must be issued in advance of the import, (re) export or commercial transaction taking place. The regulations allow us to issue licences after a transaction takes place only in very specific circumstances.
- Extinct species, for example mammoth ivory, are not controlled and do not require licences.
- Some antiques or cultural items that are of national importance and valued above a certain financial threshold may require an additional licence from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport before export (see contact details below).
- Commercial use and sales include transactions that take place over the Internet.
Sale of unworked elephant ivory
The UK along with other EU member states considers the international trade in elephant products, including raw unworked tusks or parts of tusks, as a significant threat to the conservation of the species. Except under very specific circumstances, the international commercial trade in raw ivory is banned, and will remain so until a CITES Conference agrees a specific proposal to permit it.
In the past it has been the policy of the UK CITES Management Authority, where there is adequate evidence of legal acquisition, and evidence that the specimens were obtained before CITES came into force, to consider applications for Article 10 Certificates that would allow the sale of un-worked ivory tusks.
However there is clear evidence emerging that internal trade within domestic markets, is fuelling an illegal international trade in ivory that is putting the long term conservation of the species at risk. So long as these specimens continue to be traded domestically the demand will remain high as will the incentive to trade illegally.
Because of this, and for the sake of consistency with the stricter requirement placed on international trade, it has been decided that all applications for Article 10 Certificates for un-worked ivory tusks will be refused regardless of origin or acquired date, unless there are very exceptional circumstances.
As stated earlier the exception for worked specimens acquired before 1st June 1947 applies only to worked specimens, and this consequently means that unless a valid Article 10 certificate is already in existence, all trade in un-worked ivory specimens within the UK is banned.
Page last modified:22 February 2008
Page published:22 February 2008