CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -China will ban trade and processing of all domestic ivory by the end of 2017 in a bid to save the fast dwindling tusker population in the country, a “historic move” hailed as a “game changer” for African elephants.

Detailed explanation-2: -The United States implemented a near-total ban on elephant ivory trade in 2016, and the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, and other elephant ivory markets followed suit. Most significantly, China took the remarkable step of closing its legal domestic ivory market at the end of 2017.

Detailed explanation-3: -The international commercial trade in ivory was banned in 1989, although many countries continued to sell ivory legally, within their own borders and exemptions for some types of ivory like antiques made exporting them legal, including here in the UK.

Detailed explanation-4: -However, many countries – including the UK, US, Thailand and Japan – have domestic markets where it is legal to buy and sell ivory certified as antique or coming from legal stockpiles.

Detailed explanation-5: -In April 2018 the UK government announced that it would introduce an ivory ban with a small number of exemptions for certain items containing ivory. Enforcement of the ban began on 6 June 2022.