The volume of registrations surged as Japan's internationally maligned ivory market faced new restrictions effective July 1, with ivory owners apparently rushing to take advantage of the lax declaration system, officials of the Environment Ministry said Saturday.The amount of ivory registered in Japan remained below 20 tons per year until recently, when it soared to about 30 tons in 2018 and reached about 10 tons through the first half of 2019, the officials said.Under the modified system, dealers are required to prove via carbon dating that specimens were legally obtained, making ivory fro…READ FULL ARTICLE
