Guitar manufacturers and retailers have reacted with alarm to the newly introduced CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) regulations which come into force on 2nd January 2017, writes Gary Cooper.
The regulations, which are enforced internationally, will now affect rosewood of all kinds – a sweeping change which will cover many, if not most, guitars, ukuleles and other stringed instruments in all price categories. It could even potentially prevent non-American guitar makers showing instruments at next month’s NAMM show.
Previous CITES regulations have caused problems with piano keys and, famously, with violin bows made from pernambuco or containing ivory – with the result that professional violinists have been left stranded on the tarmac in the USA, when they have tried to travel with their instruments and bows and a leading Japanese classical violinist having her instruments confiscated in Germany.
The new regulation will cover Dalbergia (rosewood) of all varieties, including the widely used Indian rosewood and will affect not just small luthiers but importers and exporters of all sizes, as well as retailers who sell overseas. Manufacturers and distributors will have to acquire documentation proving that any rosewood used is from an approved source and retailers selling those instruments to customers overseas will henceforth require an export licence, which will cost and take time to acquire.
Alex Mew, Associate Director Marketing for Barnes and Mullins, pointing out the wide variety of instruments containing rosewood that his and other companies in the UK sell, was one of the first to contact DEFRA, the UK government body which will be enforcing the regulations in Great Britain.
‘Previously, only Brazilian rosewood was covered but as of 2nd January 2017, all types of rosewood will be in Appendix II of the CITES agreement. So it is all going to be in the “pretty endangered so we have to regulate import and export category” and that is going to affect 95 per cent of guitars, bases, ukes, mandolins, some violin parts – a huge number of instruments.’ he says.
‘My understanding is that any instrument manufacturer will need to get a CITES export permit from the local authority in their country and to do that they will have to send proof of origin of the rosewood they have used to their CITES office, proving that it’s from a sustainable source and/or legally obtained.
‘UK importers have to apply for an Import Permit (FED0172) by sending the completed document along with manufacturer’s export permit, and origin proof of the wood (i.e. a certificate from manufacturer showing where and how the wood was obtained). It takes 15 working days to get approved by APHA/DEFRA, if the information I’ve been given is correct’.
There are further complications if those instruments later exported, Mew says.
‘DEFRA sends the UK importer the approved Import Permit – by post. There are three carbon copies. The UK importing company then has to send the approved Import Permit to UK port customs to show that they are allowed to import these goods. Port Customs then confirm, authorise and stamp the import licence, and return it to the UK importer and then we can receive the shipment. To send products that have previously been imported from the UK to another country (outside the EU), for example, to export to the USA or Canada, China, South Africa etc., the UK exporter has to apply for a re-export permit. This involves sending proof of a stamped and authorised UK import permit along with a re-export permit application. They have to wait to receive it and then send that permit to their customer, who then has to apply for an import permit of their own’.
Particular concerns have been raised about the enforcement of the new regulations in Germany and the USA, where zealous officials have caused problems in the past – not least the infamous 2009 and 2011 events when armed officers of the US Fish and Wildlife Service raided the Gibson factory in Nashville.
Both the MIA in the UK and NAMM in the USA have been seeking urgent clarification of the position regarding overseas exhibitors at the January show and Paul McManus, Chief Executive of the MIA, confirmed that he is hoping to be in a position to issue a statement concerning the show next Monday (5th December) following further consultations between NAMM and the US authorities.
‘Our understanding at the moment is that while the regulations only come into force on 2nd January, if you intend to export, for example to take instruments to the USA for the show, even if they were manufactured before that date, you may still need paperwork to make that possible. This is one of the things we are exploring.
‘At the NAMM show we normally have an International Coalition meeting for all the trade bodies around the world and this year we are having that meeting with a CITES agenda and we hope representatives of the US Fish and Wildlife Service will be present, so that will be a must-attend event for anyone affected, which is going to be a lot of people in the industry.’
PRS is one of the major guitar makers currently assessing how to handle the new regulations, confirms Gavin Mortimer. ‘As we understand it there are two basic issues. The first is as a manufacturer/retailer, for whom all guitars imported into the EU prior to 2nd January 2017 have an amnesty and no certification is required. That is our understanding. However, from that date, you will require an import licence.’
However, as Paul McManus has observed, if those instruments are later exported, it still seems possible that an export licence will be required. Moreover, the position of shipments currently in transit from, say, China, is uncertain.
Gavin Mortimer expands on the complexity: ‘If you take a shipment of, say, 1,000 guitars from the USA, that will require one permit and we will serialise the guitars and each one will have either a copy of the certificate attached to the invoice, or the certificate number printed on the invoice. If the retailer then sells one of those guitars to someone outside the EU, we believe the retailer will have to get an export permit, which is not a huge problem but could cost about £80. We’re waiting for confirmation of that at the moment.’
Interestingly, Mortimer points out that this could even affect private instrument sales, too. For example, a guitarist selling a guitar made after January 2017 via eBay to a customer in another country could possibly need a permit to do so. This, too, has yet to be made clear by civil servants struggling to cope with the complex new arrangements.
As in previous instances when CITES regulations have been imposed, much will depend of the attitude of individual countries’ renouncement departments and there is reportedly a great deal of concern in the German MI trade over this at present.
Immediately affected by the confusion and looming regulations are individual luthiers. Chris Larkin, the noted Irish builder says: ‘Many luthiers, myself included, would have stocks, large or small, of this wood that they had purchased over the years. Personally I have wood that I bought 30 years ago and have no idea who I got it from. From January 2nd next if I have an order for a guitar with rosewood included (and I do) I will need to be able to show if the wood is legitimate. For export outside of the EU I will require an export permit.
‘As a member of the EGB (European Guitar Builders) I am able to see how other members are handling this in their countries. In some cases it will be necessary for the luthier to make an inventory of their un-documented stock and submit it to the CITES overseeing Authority in their country who would then declare the stocks ‘legitimate’. If a luthier used some of this wood the Authority would then be able to issue a permit to this effect. But, so far, there is no common policy for the EU and the next meeting of the EU group on this where common policy could be agreed is not until February. I would hope to be exporting my rosewood guitar before then!’
As with previous CITES regulations, it seems that the authorities making the decisions have acted without reference to the industries and individuals who will have to operate under the rules. There is also a question mark over the rapidity with which the rules have been implemented. The CITES announcement was made in October and yet the industry internationally has only until January 2017 to comply. There is the question of the widely differing standards imposed by individual countries and the complexity, cost and confusion created.
Whatever the eventual outcome, next week’s statement from the MIA and NAMM is going to be watched with great interest by an industry still trying to understand the repercussions of decisions made by an international organisation over which it has no control and, it appears, little, if any, influence.
Info: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cites-controls-import-and-export-of-protected-species