BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

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Duke of Pearl
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BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

Post by Duke of Pearl »

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...
tippie53
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Re: BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

Post by tippie53 »

thanks for the update on this.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Duke of Pearl
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Re: BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

Post by Duke of Pearl »

He's got some serious disagreement from many others who are very close to what's been going on, including myself. Be sure to read the posted comments at the end of the article.
Duke of Pearl
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Re: BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

Post by Duke of Pearl »

It’s actually a great article, and John is absolutely correct that strictly concerning how the law is written not much has changed from before. What has changed though, as he agrees, is that as far as commercial activity is concerned, unpapered pre-ban BRW was technically illegal but the burden of proof on the feds to prove illegality was almost impossible, making it unenforceable. So, what the feds were ignoring earlier they're now going to aggressively enforce. Consequently it's not so much the written laws that have changed, but how those laws will now be enforced, which can cause confusion. Thus the reason for how my posts have been titled: from an enforcement (not legislative) perspective, undocumented pre-Convention BRW that was "legal" to trade before will now become officially illegal unless it receives an exemption permit.

It should be noted that the new Brazilian rosewood (BRW) provisions and the burden of proof shifting from the feds to the owner applies only to anything which entered the US prior to June 11, 1992, when BRW was first listed in CITES Appendix I. Since that date BRW could and still can be imported and sold within the U.S. as long as the CITES paperwork includes a Pre-Convention Certificate, proving it was harvested prior to the ban (http://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/re ... import.pdf).

For an instrument (or any other manufactured item) as long as there’s a label date, a serial number that can be referenced to a pre-ban date of manufacture, or a dated invoice, that seems to be all that's necessary to satisfy the current requirements. Lacking these, it would be necessary to apply for and receive an exemption permit for unpapered BRW guitars or woods. The bottom line is that if a sale of BRW is ever challenged (even if that sounds unlikely), there had better be documents proving it was a legal transaction or you could be in more trouble than you can imagine.
tippie53
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Re: BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

Post by tippie53 »

contacting Craig Hoover of fish and wildlife for updated information
please stand by for this
thanks
john
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
tippie53
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Re: BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

Post by tippie53 »

http://www.fws.gov/international/travel ... cites.html

this may help answer questions on the updated regulations
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
tippie53
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Re: BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

Post by tippie53 »

I am hoping to get someone from the Government to help clarify some questions about getting the wood legalized. The links on the previous posts will help.
john
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
songman101
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Re: BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

Post by songman101 »

Hello John H.

I appreciate the alert on the BRW . We need to be careful with the resources, as difficult as it may be at times. That said, I have seen, that on this site a lot of reuse on tops backs purlins ETC have been done. This laws rebirth was bound to happen .
The new newbie Stephen C. songman101
Darryl Young
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Re: BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD TO BECOME ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.

Post by Darryl Young »

Feel free to donate all you worthless Braz to a needy family.....like mine! <smile>
Slacker......
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