Bath lawyer Andrew Banks is warning the city’s antiques dealers that they risk hefty fines because of widespread confusion over the rules controlling the trade in endangered species.
Andrew, pictured, a partner in the Bath office of solicitors Stone King, said the decision to fine the auction house Christie’s £3,250 this week for trying to sell a banned elephant tusk had implications for local dealers and auctioneers. 
Uncarved ivory tusks with metal mounts like the one in the Christie’s catalogue no longer qualify under rules which previously exempted most antiques from trade restrictions providing they were significantly altered from their natural state before June 1947.
Mr Banks said there was widespread confusion among local antique dealers over what constitutes a worked item following the latest EU guidance.
He said: “If a large and reputable organisation such as Christie’s is having difficulty in complying with the Control on Trade in Endangered Species Regulations, then what hope is there for our smaller auction houses and antique dealers?
“They risk fines of several thousand pounds simply for making an honest mistake with their paperwork. Maybe it’s time for reconsideration of the way the regulations are applied.
“The protection of endangered species is a serious and important issue, but the prosecution of reputable businesses who have made administrative errors when selling antique specimens containing parts of species that are long since dead to my mind detracts from the important business of prosecuting rogues and those who deliberately flout the law.”
