00h34 – Avaaz presents 81 ivory objects to the Commission to denounce their illegal trade

Of the 109 ivory objects that the international network citizen Avaaz has procured, 81 "illegal" have been enthroned since Tuesday morning before the European Commission. All these examples show the flaws in European legislation on the import of this white gold, according to the cybermilitante NGO. The pachyderm statue that accompanies this unusual exhibition reminds us that the animal could disappear from the surface of the globe within a few decades if it continues to be poached for its defenses.The "gallery" of Avaaz intends to put under the eyes of the European Commission a proof of the illegal ivory trade in Europe. The organization collected 100 objects from 10 EU countries and had them badyzed in a laboratory at Oxford University. Carbon dating (a technique for determining the age of organic matter) has shown that 19.3% of the pieces examined came from elephants killed after world trade in ivory was banned, in 1989. Almost three quarters (74.3%) were also produced after 1947, the year from which any ivory item must be accompanied by a government certificate, otherwise its sale is illegal. More than half (57.1%) of the busts, statuettes and other pendants collected in Belgium from antique dealers and private sellers have been fraudulently sold. All of the objects tested from Bulgaria, Spain and Italy are stamped "illegal", while 80% of Avaaz acquisitions in the UK are certified "antique" (manufactured before 1947). An almost total ban will soon hit even harder the sale of ivory on, to and from the British Isles. Rare exceptions to this new regulation are the trade in musical instruments that contain ivory or the sale of ivory to museums, the organization says. While about 30,000 elephants are slaughtered each year, the United Kingdom, China or Hong Kong have recently announced or implemented new measures to prevent ivory trade, says Avaaz. The organization wants the European Commission to follow suit by putting an end to the exception of "pre-1947 antiquities", the Achilles heel of European legislation. The organization is also advocating a ban on ivory exports to the EU. (Belga)

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