More Details About CITES Permits For Guitars
New CITES 2017 Regulations For All Rosewood SpeciesThe New Regulation on Rosewood and Bubinga. The Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) held a conference from September 24 - October 4 this year in Johannesburg, South Africa where it was decided that all species of rosewood under the genus Dalbergia and three bubinga species (Guibourtia demeusei, Guibourtia pellegriniana, and Guibourtia tessmannii) will be protected under CITES Appendix II. This means that if you ship a guitar from the UK to anywhere in the world without a CITES permit that contains any of the above woods you are risking some exceptionally costly penalties. Customs officials may simply send the guitar back at your expense, however they are within their rights to confiscate or destroy guitars shipped without correct permits!
Kosso - sometimes called African rosewood (Pterocarpus erinaceus) - will also be protected.
While Brazilian Rosewood is currently under CITES protection (those laws will stay in place), this move places all the other nearly 300 species of rosewood under similar regulation.
This includes the East Indian rosewood and Honduran rosewood - as well as woods like cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa) and African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) - that are widely used in the manufacturing of stringed instruments, marimbas and some woodwinds.
Whether your selling/buying a guitar through us or hoping to sell you guitar to someone in the future overseas. you need to know about this!
The information will be updated on a constant basis on our CITES information page for guitarists and applies to anyone wishing to sell or buy a guitar to us or privately.
As it stand, our understanding for EU and UK customers is that this will not affect your ability to sell or buy a guitar through us, you will not need to apply for a permit if sending a guitar within the EU borders.
Industry leaders in the US, UK and around the world are starting a discussion to lighten the rules on the smaller quantities you will find in fretboards. While there is no guarantee that this will happen this is a conversation that is happening.
We’ll start to see manufacturers using less and less Rosewood until this can be resolved. Brands like Chapman and Dowina have already started changing their models to use Ebony boards instead of Rosewood.
Because of the cost of Ebony however we are sure to see more companies using man made materials like Gibson’s Richlite or other alternatives like Baked Maple.
For dealers and sellers
When shipping musical instruments that include any amount (i.e. fingerboard, back, sides, binding) of Dalbergia or the other newly regulated woods out of your country as part of a commercial transaction, each one must be accompanied by a CITES re-export certificate.
Even if the instrument was made with Dalbergia or the other regulated woods that were acquired before January 2, 2017 - such as a used or vintage instrument - it still must be accompanied by a CITES certificate and marked pre-convention when shipping internationally.
For example, a seller in Nashville looking to ship her 2013 Martin 000-28 with East Indian rosewood back and sides to a buyer in Canada must apply for a re-export certificate, pay the application fee, receive the certificate, and include that document with the guitar when shipping.
For sellers in the United States, CITES re-export certificates must be applied for through the US Fish and Wildlife Service. You can download the application here.
Representatives of the agency have said that initial turnaround times on certificate application may be on the order of months.
For more information, you can contact their office at (703) 358-2104 or at managementauthority@fws.gov. You can read the official letter from US Fish and Wildlife here.
If you contact US Fish and Wildlife, please keep in mind that they did not suggest or create this regulation - the parties of the international CITES conference did. The employees of US Fish and Wildlife are trying to work with manufacturers and sellers to develop streamlined processes around this.
Each country has its own CITES Management Authority. If you live outside the United States, you can look up the CITES contact in your country here.
New CITES 2017 Regulations For All Rosewood SpeciesThe New Regulation on Rosewood and Bubinga. The Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) held a conference from September 24 - October 4 this year in Johannesburg, South Africa where it was decided that all species of rosewood under the genus Dalbergia and three bubinga species (Guibourtia demeusei, Guibourtia pellegriniana, and Guibourtia tessmannii) will be protected under CITES Appendix II. This means that if you ship a guitar from the UK to anywhere in the world without a CITES permit that contains any of the above woods you are risking some exceptionally costly penalties. Customs officials may simply send the guitar back at your expense, however they are within their rights to confiscate or destroy guitars shipped without correct permits!
Kosso - sometimes called African rosewood (Pterocarpus erinaceus) - will also be protected.
While Brazilian Rosewood is currently under CITES protection (those laws will stay in place), this move places all the other nearly 300 species of rosewood under similar regulation.
This includes the East Indian rosewood and Honduran rosewood - as well as woods like cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa) and African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) - that are widely used in the manufacturing of stringed instruments, marimbas and some woodwinds.
Whether your selling/buying a guitar through us or hoping to sell you guitar to someone in the future overseas. you need to know about this!
The information will be updated on a constant basis on our CITES information page for guitarists and applies to anyone wishing to sell or buy a guitar to us or privately.
As it stand, our understanding for EU and UK customers is that this will not affect your ability to sell or buy a guitar through us, you will not need to apply for a permit if sending a guitar within the EU borders.
Industry leaders in the US, UK and around the world are starting a discussion to lighten the rules on the smaller quantities you will find in fretboards. While there is no guarantee that this will happen this is a conversation that is happening.
We’ll start to see manufacturers using less and less Rosewood until this can be resolved. Brands like Chapman and Dowina have already started changing their models to use Ebony boards instead of Rosewood.
Because of the cost of Ebony however we are sure to see more companies using man made materials like Gibson’s Richlite or other alternatives like Baked Maple.
For dealers and sellers
When shipping musical instruments that include any amount (i.e. fingerboard, back, sides, binding) of Dalbergia or the other newly regulated woods out of your country as part of a commercial transaction, each one must be accompanied by a CITES re-export certificate.
Even if the instrument was made with Dalbergia or the other regulated woods that were acquired before January 2, 2017 - such as a used or vintage instrument - it still must be accompanied by a CITES certificate and marked pre-convention when shipping internationally.
For example, a seller in Nashville looking to ship her 2013 Martin 000-28 with East Indian rosewood back and sides to a buyer in Canada must apply for a re-export certificate, pay the application fee, receive the certificate, and include that document with the guitar when shipping.
For sellers in the United States, CITES re-export certificates must be applied for through the US Fish and Wildlife Service. You can download the application here.
Representatives of the agency have said that initial turnaround times on certificate application may be on the order of months.
For more information, you can contact their office at (703) 358-2104 or at managementauthority@fws.gov. You can read the official letter from US Fish and Wildlife here.
If you contact US Fish and Wildlife, please keep in mind that they did not suggest or create this regulation - the parties of the international CITES conference did. The employees of US Fish and Wildlife are trying to work with manufacturers and sellers to develop streamlined processes around this.
Each country has its own CITES Management Authority. If you live outside the United States, you can look up the CITES contact in your country here.
