Thread: ivory import word of caution

Hey everyone,

saw this auction on the bay and realized that someone might try to bid on it. Just a word of caution. If the scales really are ivory, it'll be hard to get into the states unless you have a cites permit.
Just hoping that someone will learn from my mistake (yes, I'm still trying to get at least the blades out of customs. The ivory is a lost cause).

Funny, I've gotten a few razors from this seller that were ivory and never had any problem with customs. besides, isn't pre-ban ivory legal?

Sorry about your hassle brendon.

I just noticed that I have been misspelling your name for quite a while now Brendon (been using an A instead of an O). Sorry.

Mark

Hey mark,


no worries about the name, at least you got the 'e' . Pre Ban Ivory is legal, and I have some myself. BUt if customs opens the package (an almost certainty nowdays) and sees that there isn't a cites permit and documentation that the ivory is preban (the word of the seller isn't good enough...nor is the fact that the razor manufactor has been out of business for over a 100 years and the pins are original). You can buy all the ivory from the US you want. You just can't ship it out or import it in without that permit.

Wow, the things you learn from ebay.

If you buy Ivory on Eboy be aware that probably 95% of it is illegal. I understand they are in the process of clamping down on Ivory sales on Eboy. The documentation required to get Ivory into the U.S is prodigious. Customs knows that almost all Elephant Ivory is Illegal and the legal stuff requires so much paperwork most won't deal with it. Thats why most Ivory carvers use Mammouth Ivory or walrus or Hippo. I can guarantee you that if Ivory is shipped into the U.S and marked properly you'll be an old man before you ever receive it and if it isn't properly marked you'll probably never get it. I speak as a retired ICE Agent.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

If you buy Ivory on Eboy be aware that probably 95% of it is illegal. I understand they are in the process of clamping down on Ivory sales on Eboy. The documentation required to get Ivory into the U.S is prodigious. Customs knows that almost all Elephant Ivory is Illegal and the legal stuff requires so much paperwork most won't deal with it. Thats why most Ivory carvers use Mammouth Ivory or walrus or Hippo. I can guarantee you that if Ivory is shipped into the U.S and marked properly you'll be an old man before you ever receive it and if it isn't properly marked you'll probably never get it. I speak as a retired ICE Agent.

Thanks for the input spender...that's precisely what I was looking for. I hope this helps everyone

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

If you buy Ivory on Eboy be aware that probably 95% of it is illegal. I understand they are in the process of clamping down on Ivory sales on Eboy. The documentation required to get Ivory into the U.S is prodigious. Customs knows that almost all Elephant Ivory is Illegal and the legal stuff requires so much paperwork most won't deal with it. Thats why most Ivory carvers use Mammouth Ivory or walrus or Hippo. I can guarantee you that if Ivory is shipped into the U.S and marked properly you'll be an old man before you ever receive it and if it isn't properly marked you'll probably never get it. I speak as a retired ICE Agent.

So do mammoth ivory &c have the same problems getting across the borders? I'd like to get a mammoth-scaled razor some day (or maybe hippo??) and am wondering if there's any point trying to get it across the border?

Saw on the news the other night that the illegal trade in ivory is heating up again (if it ever cooled down). 100 Elephants found slaughtered on a reserve in Africa, tusks missing. I think the report said the poachers even shot and killed two of the rangers as they were trying to intervene.

Micarta's looking better and better...

James.

hippo and mammoth are not illegal AFAIK so you should be able to ship it. I'm gonna guess that you might need/want some kind of declaration saying that it is indeed mammoth/hippo ivory. to eliminate seizing the razor. you might want to ask Robert Williams as I know he does scales in hippo ivory. maybe someone has a mammoth ivory dovo or maestro to offer insight if anything came with the razor claiming the ivory to be mammoth

Much of the elephant ivory "harvested" in this day and age goes to the Far East where customs are less efficient and tend to turn a blind eye or are easily bribed to do so. Especially as there is an increased presence of Chinese in Africa (oil and minerals) there is an increased trade. I have been told the Chinese simply equip Africans with rifles and chain saws and tell them to go and kill elephants or chop down hardwood trees.