Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Orderly Stopping the Commercial Processing and Sale of Ivory and Ivory Products

• Document Number：No. 103 [2016] of the General Office of the State Council
• Area of Law： Relics and Literary History
• Level of Authority： Regulatory Documents of the State Council
• Date issued：12-29-2016
• Effective Date：12-29-2016
• Status： Effective
• Issuing Authority： General Office of the State Council

Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Orderly Stopping the Commercial Processing and Sale of Ivory and Ivory Products 
(No. 103 [2016] of the General Office of the State Council)
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; and all ministries and commissions of the State Council and all institutions directly under the State Council:
For the purposes of strengthening the protection of objects and cracking down on the illegal trade of ivory, with the consent of the State Council, you are hereby notified of the following matters on orderly stopping the commercial processing and sale of ivory and ivory products:
I. Stopping the commercial processing and sale of ivory and ivory products stage by stage and batch by batch Before March 31, 2017, the processing and sale of ivory and ivory products by a group of entities designated for the processing of ivory and places designated for the sale of ivory shall be stopped in advance, and before December 31, 2017, the processing and sale of ivory and ivory products shall be stopped completely. The State Forestry Administration shall determine a list of specific entities and issue an announcement in a timely manner. Relevant entities shall, within the prescribed time limit, stop the processing and sale of ivory and ivory products, and apply to the administrative departments for industry and commerce for undergoing the formalities of modification and deregistration. The administrative departments for industry and commerce shall no longer accept the establishment or modification registration of enterprises whose business scope involve commercial processing and sale of ivory and ivory products.
II. Actively directing the transformation of ivory carving skills. After stopping the commercial processing and sale of ivory and ivory products, the cultural departments shall direct the transformation of the successors and relevant practitioners of the ivory carving skills. Rescue records for the representative successors of intangible cultural heritage projects of ivory carving at the national and provincial levels shall be made, to keep their complete technical process, core technology, and other detailed materials; famous teachers of ivory carving skills shall be encouraged to engage in the repair of relevant artworks at museums and other institutions; and successors of ivory carving skills shall be directed to develop carving with alternative materials, bone carving, and other skills. Non-profit social and cultural groups and trade associations may integrate the existing resources to set up ivory carving studios, and engage in research and heritage of ivory carving skills, but shall not carry out relevant commercial activities.
III. Strictly managing ivory and ivory products lawfully collected. Trading of ivory and ivory products in the market or through the network and other channels shall be prohibited. Ivory and ivory products with lawful sources may be displaced and exhibited in museums, galleries, and other non-sales sites after they are lawfully loaded with special logos, and may also be transported, gifted, or inherited according to the law; and cultural relics of ivory with lawful resources and confirmed by special identification agencies may be auctioned under strict supervision, to maximize their cultural value, after they obtain administrative licenses according to the lawful procedures.
IV. Strengthening the supervision of law enforcement and the publicity and education. The public security, customs, industry and commerce, forestry, and other departments shall, in accordance with the division of responsibilities, strengthen law enforcement and supervision, continue to intensify the crackdown on illegal processing and sale, transportation, and smuggling of ivory and ivory products, focus on the investigation, countering, and destruction of illegal processing dens, and block the market, network, and other illegal trading channels. Protection, publicity, and public education shall be carried out extensively, the concept of ecological civilization shall be vigorously advocated, the public shall be directed to consciously resist the illegal trading of ivory and ivory products, and a favorable social environment for the protection of elephants and other wild animals and plants shall be created.
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and relevant departments shall attach great importance, strengthen the organization and leadership, specify the division of responsibilities, ensure that the commercial processing and sale of ivory and ivory products are stopped smoothly, appropriately and effectively conduct the resettlement, change of the line of production, transformation, and other work, and effectively maintain the social stability and harmony.
General Office of the State Council
December 29, 2016