Elephant ivory is still being sold on eBay despite the online marketplace introducing a ban more than a decade ago, researchers have found. Sellers are misrepresenting the materials used in certain items and sometimes using "code words" to disguise illicit listings, researchers from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent, in England, said in a statement on Monday. In 2008, eBay announced it was introducing a global ban on the sale of ivory starting on January 1, 2009. "Despite eBay's strict policy on Animal and Wildlife Products, there is still an ongoing trade in ivory, mostly concealed as other non-restricted materials," said co-author David Roberts in a statement. He said detecting illegal sales of ivory items can be difficult, as the word "ivory" can be used to describe a color. But "companies like eBay have the resources and data" that could be mobilized to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, Roberts added.