133 ivory objects within national boundaries is generally less strongly regulated, although specifi c laws may also affect it. What follows is a brief summary of various laws that govern objects made from or containing ivory. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) entered into force in 1975 in the United States and now has some 180 state signatories. CITES is administered by the United Nations Environment Program based in Nairobi. It is a comprehensive effort to control international trade in endangered or protected plant or animal species. The species it applies to are included on one of three lists based on the degree to which they are endangered. Those listed in Appendix I to the convention are the most strictly protected and those in Appendix III the least so. Import and export of species covered by CITES requires a permit or certifi cate. Since January 1990, international trade for commercial purposes in contemporary elephant ivory has been largely banned. The only elephant ivory that can be lawfully traded between CITES countries is that acquired prior to the species being listed (1975 and 1976).5 While CITES regulates the international movement of ivory, individual countries have their own detailed and often-stricter laws affecting trade in this material. This arises because while under international law CITES is binding on countries that are signatories to it, its effectiveness depends on those individual countries implementing CITES (or more stringent requirements) into their own laws. Because of the absence of internal border controls, the European Union (EU) implements CITES through EU Wildlife Trade Regulations, which apply in all EU member states even after CITES entered into force EU-wide in 2015. The species controlled under the EU Regulations exceed those regulated by CITES. The EU makes a distinction between antique material, being items acquired before March 3, 1947, and pre-convention items acquired before the date on which either CITES or the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations became applicable to them in the country in question. Under these regulations, antiques may be freely traded within the EU without a certifi cate but require a CITES certifi cate for import into or export out of the EU.6 Pre-convention objects can be traded with a certifi cate if they entered an EU country legally before the application of the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations.7 In the United States, commercial and non-commercial ivory transactions have long been regulated by the African Elephant Conservation Act (1988) and the Endangered Species Act (1973). However, on July 1, 2013,
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