Three items containing ivory that have been scrutinised by APHA due to the Ivory Act: an ivory handled fly whisk that was rejected, an Otto Hoffmann dancing girl given an exemption following a long and complex appeal, and an Edo period ivory netsuke which gained an ‘outstanding quality’ exemption.
According to data that followed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by ATG, since 2022 the Animal Plant & Health Agency (APHA) has refused or cancelled more than 500 applications.
In December 2025, APHA published The Ivory Act 2018: Post-Legislative Scrutiny Document stating there had been over 22,000 registrations and over 300 applications for Section 2 ‘museum quality’ exemption certificates between February 24, 2022, and April 30, 2025.
Following ATG ’s FOI request, APHA said during the same period it had refused to grant exemption certificates for 65 applications submitted under the Section 2 exemption of ‘pre-1918 items of outstanding artistic, cultural, or historical value and importance’. Submitting an item under this exemption costs a non-refundable fee of £250 per object.
In the same timeframe APHA revealed it had cancelled 374 registrations for items under Sections 6 to 9. Section 6 covers the portrait miniatures exemption, section 7 is the 10% de minimis exemption, section 8 is for musical instruments and section 9 is items being sold or hired out to a qualifying museum. Registrations for these costs £20 per item or £50 for a group of between three and 20 items.
Under the portrait miniatures exemption, APHA cancelled 179 registrations, with 157 registrations cancelled under de minimis.
In the more recent time frame, from April 1, 2025, to September 11, 2026, APHA received a total of 11,089 registrations. Of the 92 applications for ‘museum quality’ exemption certificates, 14 were rejected, with some still awaiting a decision. In the same period, APHA cancelled 97 registrations for items registered under Sections 6 to 9.
The regulator declined to discuss the cost of the appeals procedure, saying: “APHA and Defra do not hold information on the total costs of appeals. Policy official time spent on appeals is not costed, and some other appeal-related costs form part of wider legal expenditure.”
The Ivory Act 2018, a near-total ban on the trade in elephant ivory of any age, came into force in the UK on June 6, 2022. In 2025 ivory from narwhal, killer whale, sperm whale and hippopotamus was added to the law.
Thorough preparation
Matthew Shore, associate barrister, and Tim Maxwell, head of the Art &Luxury team at Wedlake Bell, have worked on a number of cases regarding Ivory Act. They said: “The Ivory Act has fundamentally shifted the focus to whether an object can satisfy a tightly drawn statutory exemption – and regardless of its artistic, historic or commercial value looked at in the round.
“These figures suggest the regulator is continuing to take a robust approach, which is entirely consistent with the direction of travel the market has seen over the past few years. Collectors and dealers applying for exemption certificates will need to ensure any application is prepared thoroughly and with appropriate supporting evidence (eg provenance research, condition reports and expert evidence).
“Otherwise, even if an object might otherwise satisfy the necessary criteria, the application may be refused and it can then prove challenging to overturn any refusal on appeal. Of course, this places a significant evidential burden on those applying for exemption certificates.”
