After advocacy from organizations such as the League of American Orchestras and others, reports Tom Mashberg in Friday’s (5/16) New York Times, “The Obama Administration announced Thursday that it has relaxed rules that would have made it extremely difficult for performers and orchestras to travel abroad with instruments that contained ivory parts. The rules are part of the government’s effort to ban the ivory trade in the face of the slaughter of African elephants.… Groups representing musicians, among them the National Association of Music Merchants and the League of American Orchestras, said those rules would have endangered the livelihoods of musicians. The revised rule allows musicians to travel with instruments containing ivory as long as they were lawfully acquired before Feb. 25, 2014, and were not obtained for sale.… Musicians traveling abroad with ivory instruments are still required to obtain a federal certificate that serves as a passport of sorts for their items.… Jesse Rosen, the president and chief executive officer of the League of American Orchestras, commended the change but said there is more to be done to restore the confidence of the music community. ‘There is a great deal of confusion about the steps required to comply with the new rules,’ he said. ‘We strongly believe it is possible to protect the future use and sale of musical instruments while also meeting conservation goals.’ ”
Posted May 16, 2014
Pictured: Confiscated ivory in Hong Kong. Photo by Alex Hofford / EPA
