Woman fined for selling illegal elephant ivory on eBay

Joyce Bell said she sold the items on eBay as a hobby

A woman who made thousands of pounds secretly selling elephant ivory on eBay has been been fined £1,400.

Joyce Bell, 67, from Dundee, admitted selling the banned goods in what is the first conviction of its kind in Scotland.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard that Bell sold nearly 100 items made with ivory obtained from the tusks of elephants.

She admitted selling ivory items in 2022 contrary to the Ivory Act 2018.

Sheriff George Way told the court: "She is genuinely remorseful about the whole thing and did not realise the ramifications of the trade in ivory.

"In my opinion most first offenders can be dealt with by a financial penalty. The trade in these items is generated by money.

"If they weren't valuable to some people there wouldn't be an illegal trade and wouldn't be poaching and the other horrible things we know about."

An ivory necklace and an ornament were among the items sold by Bell

Bell had claimed to be selling items made with "bovine bone" to get around eBay's ban on ivory trading, but collectors knew she was selling prohibited goods.

The court was told that Bell spent years selling costume jewellery to China and other countries and had made £6,412 as a result.

Bell also admitted fraudulently evading export duty payments by exporting items without a permit.

She further admitted exporting, or trying to export, ivory goods without applying for, or obtaining, export permits.

Depute fiscal Karon Rollo previously told the court that the Border Force agency at Heathrow Airport highlighted a number of parcel seizures which they suspected contained elephant ivory.

She said a parcel for China was examined by Border Force and found to contain a necklace made from elephant ivory.

The fiscal said several more parcels were intercepted and notices were issued to Bell telling her she required permits to export the jewellery and trinkets.

Bell did not respond to the demands and was later found to be selling items for nearly 10 times what she claimed to be charging.

The online auction website confirmed that between April 2018 and April 2022 there had been a number of sales of "bovine bone" from the accounts Bell was using.

While "bovine bone" sales are legal, elephant ivory - which is heavier - is not.

The court was told that international collectors would have been well aware from the listed weights that Bell's goods were made from elephant ivory.

The sale of items made from elephant ivory is illegal

Ms Rollo told the court: "She said she bought it because she liked and hoarded it and on occasion she sold them for extra money and as a hobby.

"She stated that she didn't know the difference between ivory and bovine bone.

"She said she didn't think the items were ivory and continued trading because she didn't know the difference."

The Ivory Act 2018 bans people from dealing in ivory. It also applies to anyone who causes, arranges or helps someone else to deal in ivory.

The World Wildlife Fund said at least 20,000 African elephants continue to be illegally killed each year for their ivory tusks.

Ivory, or "white gold" as it is sometimes called, has been one of the most valuable and sought-after global commodities in history.

Ivory has been turned into jewellery and weaponry, musical instruments and figurines.

An eBay spokesperson said the company has strict policies in place to regulate the sale of animal products and promote the protection of wildlife.

The spokesperson added: "We use block filter algorithms which aim to automatically prevent ivory being listed, and we are continually updating these filters to prevent bad actors from circumventing our policies.

"If we do find any listings which breach our policies, we remove them immediately and may take robust action against the seller.

"In this case, we worked closely with the National Wildlife Crime Unit to assist its investigation into these offences."