S. 616/HD 4280: An Act relative to ivory and rhinoceros horn trafficking
MSPCA Position: Support
Sponsors: Senator Jason Lewis and Representative Jay Livingstone
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
This legislation restricts the trade of ivory and rhino horn within Massachusetts, ensuring that the Commonwealth is not contributing to the global poaching crisis. The bill largely mirrors 2016 federal ivory trade regulations, which were adopted for the express purpose of addressing the “unparalleled and escalating threats to African elephants.” However, federal law does not regulate intrastate trade in ivory and rhino horn, creating enforcement loopholes and making state action critical. Legislation to prohibit the trade of parts and products sourced from imperiled species, including elephant ivory, has been passed in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C. Additionally, China instituted a nationwide ban in 2018 and the U.K., the largest exporter of legal ivory, enacted an ivory ban in late 2019. The Massachusetts bill does not affect trade in whale or other marine mammal parts and includes common-sense exemptions, such as for musical instruments and museums.
Check out our educational comic strip, created by Boston-area college student Sophia Smith, which explains how wildlife trafficking in ivory and rhino horn has put elephants and rhinos in great peril—and what you can do about it.
Why is this legislation needed?
Wildlife trafficking is a global crisis and is putting elephants and rhinos at risk of extinction. The international illegal ivory trade has more than doubled since 2007, with the U.S. ivory market ranking among the top worldwide, and 2016 saw the largest quantity of illegally traded ivory seizures to date. The crisis has reached such a level that scientists predict that at current poaching rates forest elephants could be extinct within a decade. The latest scientific data, from 2016, confirms that a massive decline continues: over the course of 7 years the African savannah elephant population declined by 30%, due primarily to poaching. All five extant rhino species are threatened with extinction, fewer than 5,000 black rhinos remain today, and some rhino populations number only in the hundreds.
Massachusetts is a major contributor to facilitating the illegal ivory trade. Several investigations have revealed that Massachusetts plays a role in the illegal ivory trade. In May 2019, an HSUS undercover investigation at the New Bedford Whaling Museum found several undocumented ivory items for sale. The sellers were unable to produce any documentation as to the age or origin of the items, calling their legality into question. In 2017, another HSUS investigation found ivory items of dubious origins readily available for sale across the Commonwealth, with vendors even offering smuggling tips. Further, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data on the port of Boston from January 2010 to July 2016 revealed both legal and illegal imports into Massachusetts. There have also been several criminal cases involving illegal ivory in Massachusetts, including the following:
- In 2015, a business owner in Concord, MA pleaded guilty to smuggling ivory products from the U.S. to China, with the value of the shipped goods exceeding $700,000.
- In 2014, a man was convicted for trafficking ivory into the U.S. from Canada, including selling six elephant tusks to a Massachusetts buyer for $50,000.
- Between 2010 and 2014, an average of 37 pieces of ivory were seized or refused each year in the port of Boston, totaling a market value ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- In 2010, a popular Nantucket scrimshander was convicted on multiple felony counts of participating in an international conspiracy to smuggle elephant ivory and whale teeth into the U.S.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the legal ivory market, of which the U.S. is one of the largest operators, provides easy cover for the trade of illicit ivory to flourish. Anti-smuggling investigations and market research have shown that illegal ivory and rhino horn are frequently passed off as legal products. Further complicating enforcement, mammoth and mastodon ivory is nearly indistinguishable from elephant ivory to the untrained eye, which creates enforcement burdens and facilitates demand for ivory, as mammoth and mastodon ivory are often intermingled in international shipments and retail sales. As the New York Department of Environmental Conservation states, “It can be difficult to distinguish mammoth ivory from elephant ivory without specialized training and analysis. In addition, articles fashioned from elephant ivory can be altered to resemble mammoth ivory. Effective enforcement efforts require that elephant ivory and mammoth ivory be treated identically.” In early 2019, scientists specializing in wildlife forensics reported a finding of mammoth ivory in an illegal ivory shipment in Cambodia.
What would this legislation do?
- Align Massachusetts commerce laws with federal commerce regulations. In 2016, the U.S. enacted a near-total ban on imports, exports, and interstate trade of African elephant ivory. This state legislation complements federal laws and regulations by regulating intrastate trade in Massachusetts, restricting the trade of most ivory and rhino horn products, with narrow exemptions for antiques and certain other items.
- Impose sufficient deterrents on traffickers and order the seizure of illegal ivory and rhino horn products upon conviction.
- Establish the Endangered Elephant and Rhino Conservation and Education Fund using penalties assessed under the new law. This fund will expand education and outreach efforts on these species and provide financial rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of violators.
This bill would NOT criminalize the possession of ivory and rhino horn currently owned by Massachusetts residents, nor would it prohibit inheritance or noncommercial gifts.
In the media:
- United States Attorney’s Office: District of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Man Charged with Wildlife Trafficking, June 21, 2024.
- CT News Junkie, Lawmakers Call For Ban On Intrastate Ivory Sales Amid Illicit Retail Activity Across CT, January 25, 2024.
- Government of Canada: Environment and Climate Change Canada. Canada implements stricter measures for elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn trade. November 20, 2023.
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland’s Wildlife Trafficking Prevention Act, 2022.
- National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, New Mexico Passes Wildlife Trafficking Ban, February 27, 2020.
- The Boston Globe, Franklin Park Zoo showcases activism and artistry, October 5, 2019
- ABC News, Undocumented elephant ivory trade ‘thriving’ in Massachusetts: Humane Society, September 9, 2019
