General Section 38: Meaning of other expressions
This section lists various words or phrases used throughout the Act and, where relevant, the corresponding provision at which their meaning is located. Subsection (2) defines "pre-1918", "pre-1947" and ‘"pre-1975", as applied in sections 2, 6, 7 and 8 respectively. An item would qualify if the item was made prior to the relevant date and meets one of the following conditions:
No ivory had been added to the item on, or after, the relevant date, or
Any ivory added to the item on, or after, the relevant date must have been taken from its animal source prior to 1 January 1975 and the ivory must have been added for the purpose of restoring the item, any other purpose would not be valid.
	Subsection (3) provides the relevant dates for 1918, 1947 and 1975 respectively. The relevant date for pre-1947 aligns with the date used under current EU Wildlife Trade Regulations (which was itself chosen as the date 50 years prior to the introduction of the Regulations), which apply this date to all worked ivory items. The relevant dates for pre-1918 and pre-1975 are set at the first day of the calendar year. 1975 is the year in which Asian elephants were first listed at Appendix I of CITES, thus indicating that they were considered vulnerable to extinction if trade in their ivory or other parts was not severely curtailed.