States and Countries Banning the Sale of Fossil Ivory
and Proposed Legislation

Because of the poaching of African Elephants, many countries have banned the import of modern Ivory. Smugglers have been marking shipments of modern ivory as fossil ivory to get it past customs. Here in the United States, beginning with New Jersey and New York, state legislators have been submitting bills to ban the sale of all ivory, modern and fossil.

While the differences between extant elephant ivory and fossil Mammoth ivory have been recognized for some time, and a good example and description can be found on the Fish and Wildlife Service page; www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php, State legislatures have simply decided to go the less expensive route and ban all ivory. This should be addressed in each state that bans fossil ivory.

For clarification, we are posting links to the complete legislation of all states involved. The list will be updated on a regular basis and we will do our best to keep it current.

AAPS cannot provide legal advice, and recomend you consult an attorney for advice on the sale of fossil ivory. Further, AAPS does not claim or warrant that this is a complete listing of ivory bans in the U.S.

The following states have proposed legislation in process. If and when bills are signed into law, we will update the links. NOTE: While we make every attempt to locate the current legislation regarding fossil Ivory, new bills and current legislation is not always easily found. You must check with your own state legislators to see if there are additional proposed bans or bills that have passed.