BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BE ILLEGAL

[Chuck Erikson]

Up until now Brazilian rosewood already in the U.S. was legal to buy, sell, use, and ship interstate even without documentation (much old lumber and many vintage guitars lack paperwork, since it wasn’t previously required). But as of June 26th, as a CITES Appendix I species (like elephant ivory) and in conjunction with the new total ban on all elephant ivory, it will become a felony to buy or sell anything containing Brazilian rosewood unless it has proper documentation (http://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/re ... import.pdf). To qualify for the exception: “If the [rosewood] was lawfully imported…before the species was listed…you may continue to use the [rosewood]…provided you can clearly demonstrate (using written records or other documentary evidence) that your [rosewood] was imported prior to the CITES listing, with no restrictions on its use after import. If you are unable to clearly demonstrate that this exception applies, the [rosewood] may be used only for noncommercial purposes.” Good luck to you all trying to get acceptable paperwork for old wood stocks and all those guitars out there...

[Alan Carruth]

There goes the other shoe....

[Waddy Thomson]

Next comes Cocobolo, Madagascan Rosewood, some Ebonies, etc. The future is looking more interesting for us builders, to find domestic woods more appealing!

[Tom Sommerville]

I predict that we'll suddenly discover here-to-fore unknown hordes of Ramirez, Santos, Torres, etc. treasures.

[Mario Proulx]

Why is that, Tom?

[Clay Schaeffer]

"I predict that we'll suddenly discover here-to-fore unknown hordes of Ramirez, Santos, Torres, etc. treasures."

And there will be a number of vintage "Martin" guitars in pristine condition with duplicate serial numbers. <g>

[Tom Sommerville]

What Clay said.

Bet your life on it.

[Beate Ritzert]

The problems will be larger for the instruments not coming from larger factories. In other words for everything You as luthiers or i as a hobbyist build or - more important - have built. It will be even lbigger for the entry level instruments, because many of them are unsigned (and have a mostly ideal value). The key problem is that the owners will be really often unable to prove the age.

[Larry Davis]

Shucks!! Guess I won't be taking my old growth BRW bridge blocks to GAL. Should have sold them when I retired -sigh-

[Jason Rodgers]

Well, you can't now that you've advertised it, Larry!

[Clay Schaeffer]

Look on the bright side - there is no longer a need to change out all the ivory fittings on all the old BRW guitars. The guitars themselves are equally illegal!

[Len McIntosh]

Just curious, does anyone know of a test to determine types of rosewood, and just how does one determine wether the wood is from brazil. Just saw a guitar with a Madagascar rosewood back, the chocolate swirls looked very much like BRW I've seen.
If the primary test is visual does this mean you also need paper work to prove your material is NOT BRW ?

Thanks for the update chuck, hope you and yours are well!

[Larry Davis]

There is a new, nondestructive florescence test that only requires swabbing a bare wood spot.

[Chuck Morrison]

For those of us who have pre-1992 imported Brazilian RW, there is a FWA permit for commercial use. This is specifically for re-export of CITES app. 1 plants. I haven't found anything that relates to interstate commerce, but If Lacey requires CITES documentation, then this would be it.

http://forms.fws.gov/3-200-32.pdf is the link to the permit application.

That permit includes this section:

11. For Dalbergia nigra (commonly known as Brazilian rosewood or Bahia rosewood), complete one of the following certification statements:
a.Vintage guitar (musical instrument) exporter. If you are requesting a single-use permit to export a vintage guitar(s), provide an inventory of your pre-Convention stock of guitars made using Dalbergia
nigra.

If you are requesting to establish a master file for the export of vintage guitars, you will not need to provide an inventory of all guitars that you intend to export. The master file is typically established for
up to 3 years, so it would not be possible to identify guitars that are not currently in your possession. Therefore, if we establish a master file, the master file will not establish a limit on the number that can
be exported during the life of the master file. However, you will be restricted to exporting only guitars that were manufactured from pre-Convention Dalbergia nigra, harvested prior to June 11, 1992. If this
is acceptable, please sign and date the following certification statement:

I certify that all the guitars to be exported under my master file will have been manufactured from pre-Convention Dalbergia nigra wood, harvested prior to June 11, 1992, and will be documented by the guitars'
serial numbers or other identification. If requested by the Service, I am willing to report on the number of guitars and their identification numbers that may be exported under my master file when requesting additional partially completed CITES documents under my master file.

Applicant's signature: _______________________________________Date: ___________

b. Guitar (musical instrument) manufacturer/exporter/lumber exporter.

Provide a catalog or inventory of your pre-Convention stock of Dalbergia nigra wood and/or guitars.

I certify that all the guitars/guitar pieces/lumber to be re-exported, and identified in my catalog or inventory,
are made from my pre-Convention supply of Dalbergia nigra, harvested prior to June 11, 1992. I further
certify that I will not attempt to export more wood or applying for multiple shipments, I request to export up to
_______ guitars/pieces of wood in the next 3 years.

Applicant's signature: _______________________________________Date: ___________
3-200-32 Rev. 02/2014 Page 5 of 8

[John E Giarrizzo]

I looked at the Government forms for both Exotic woods and Ivory.

Do you think that they can make it any more complicated and difficult? Perhaps require a laboratory chemical and molecular analysis? Maybe increase the fees? Increase the processing time from two months to a year?

I have instruments with both Brazilian Rosewood and Ivory.

The BRW was purchased approx. 40 years ago. The Ivory from a legal supplier about 10 years ago. There is no way I can prove this.

Do I have to continue hiding them in my basement?

[Alan Carruth]

As far as I can tell, neither ivory nor BRW are controlled substances like heroin: you can own them and use them in public all you want. The issues arise when you want to sell them.

Again, from what I've been able to ascertain, you can't sell ivory. Period. Not elephant, not mammoth, not old and not certified recent. You can't sell it. Remove the nut and saddle, and replace them with bone.

If you have some sort of convincing evidence that traces the wood in that guitar in the US back before June of '92, you should be able to sell it within the US with no problems. It's best if you have a sales receipt with something like a serial number or description, but that's not strictly necessary, if I understand it correctly. They're looking for documentary evidence or reliable testimony that passes some sort of standard of reasonable proof. 'Reasonable' seems to be the key word. They're not going to be pushovers, but if your evidence can convince somebody who's mildly skeptical, it should pass from what I've been reading.

Of course, I'm no lawyer, and I understand that it will take a few test cases in court before this starts to settle down. The best course I can see would be to start trying to get your ducks in a line, in case you ever want to sell, and meanwhile, enjoy your guitar; in public if you like

[Waddy Thomson]

The key to survival is NOT being the test case!

[John E Giarrizzo]

Test One

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014 ... ogs&_r=1

[Jason Rodgers]

“There was one person who brought two identical bows —and one of these bows was confiscated, and the other not,” Mr. Englert said. “It was the same bow maker, the same materials, the same year when the bows were made. So that was a bit surprising.”

Surprising, bewildering, infuriating...

[Len McIntosh]

Well I read the story of the confiscated bows and then read the comments by interested readers. The issue with the bows was the ivory tip of the bows, ok i get it, love elephants, BUT how did trees in brazil get in the same catagory as my third favorite animal?
I know I'm missing something here.
I understand the montral guitar show has been cancelled this year and I'm thinkin this issue is one on the factors.

BTW dogs and horses!