The Government intends the ban on dealing in ivory to come into force as soon as practicable and they therefore plan to lay the implementing secondary legislation before Parliament, and to issue guidance as soon as possible after appropriate consideration of responses to the recent consultation.
When the ban comes into force all forms of dealing in ivory, including export and import (for sale or hire), sales and hire agreements, advertising or keeping an ivory item for any of these purposes, will be prohibited. This means that all elements relating to contracts involving the dealing in ivory will need to have been concluded (executed) before the date on which the ban comes into force. For example, in the case of sales, the money and the goods will need to have been exchanged before that date.
The Government is planning awareness-raising measures about the Act among both commercial dealers and members of the public in advance of commencement. Owing to the publicity in advance of and during the passage of the Bill through Parliament, many commercial dealers will already have a good awareness of the prohibition and some may already have chosen to adapt their business practices accordingly. The Government intends that the provisions in the Act will be commenced in such a way as to enable those dealing in exempted items to register or, as the case may be, apply for certification of their item.
