open communications

Online auction house eBay said Monday it will place a global ban on the sale and purchase of ivory products on its site. The announcement comes nearly a year after the company banned cross-border trading of ivory products.

eBay, one of the largest marketplaces for ivory, first decided to ban international trade of ivory in January 2007 after a wildlife group found that nine out of 10 ivory products sold on eBay was illegal. Trade of ivory products in the U.S. was still accepted until now. The global ban will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.