Guidance

Buy or hire ivory items

How to check if an ivory item you're buying or hiring has been registered or certified as exempt, and what you need to do as a new owner.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Animal and Plant Health Agency
• Published: 24 February 2022
• Last updated: 28 January 2025 — See all updates

How to check if an ivory item you’re buying or hiring has been registered or certified as exempt, and what you need to do as a new owner.

You must not buy or hire items made of or containing ivory from species listed in the Ivory Act 2018, unless they are registered or certified as exempt.

Banned ivory species are:

• elephant
• hippopotamus
• killer whale
• narwhal
• sperm whale

Before you buy or hire items made of or containing listed ivory species you should check they:

• have been registered or certified as exempt – you should ask for the registration number or exemption certificate
• meet the exemption conditions

You could be committing an offence under the act if you do not carry out due diligence.

What you should check

You should check the information in the exemption certificate or registration matches the item you’re buying or hiring. This includes:

• the type of item
• which parts of the item are made of ivory
• any distinguishing features
• photographs of the item

You can ask the person selling or hiring out the item for copies of the documents and supporting evidence they used to get a registration or exemption certificate.

You can also email ivoryact@apha.gov.uk to request photographs and information about the item. You’ll need to give them the registration or exemption certificate number.

Notify APHA about a change of ownership

You must tell APHA at ivoryact@apha.gov.uk if you’re the new owner of an ivory item that’s registered or certified as exempt. You’ll need to provide:

• the item’s registration or exemption certificate reference number
• your name
• your postal address
• your email address

There is no fee to update these details as a new owner.

Selling or hiring out an item you’ve bought

To sell or hire out an item that’s previously been registered under a standard exemption, you’ll need to make a new registration and pay the registration fee.

Find out how to register items made of or containing listed ivory species that you want to sell or hire out.

Items with existing exemption certificates

If you are not the named owner on the exemption certificate for an item you plan to sell or hire out, you must notify APHA. You do not need to re-apply for an exemption certificate. Instead, provide details to APHA and pay the £20 fee to change the ownership details on the certificate.

When you sell the item you must give the exemption certificate to the new owner.

Published 24 February 2022
Last updated 28 January 2025 + show all updates

1. 28 January 2025

   This guidance now covers ivory from the following species: elephant, hippopotamus, killer whale, narwhal and sperm whale. The structure and wording of the guidance has been updated to make it clearer.

2. 4 July 2022

   Removed reference to the transition period for transactions that started before 6 June as this has now expired.

3. 6 June 2022

   Updated to reflect the Ivory Act came into force from 6 June 2022. Provided information about the transition period for existing ivory transactions.

4. 16 March 2022

   From 6 June, you will not be able to deal in items containing or made of elephant ivory under the Ivory Act 2018 unless they are registered as exempt or certified as exempt.

5. 24 February 2022

   First published.