Ok, so whilst I'm waiting for my new guitars to arrive from the fabulous Chicago Music Exchange, it suddenly dawned on me that they had made no mention of CITES - despite one of the guitars (the Jaguar) having a rosewood neck. Gulp....
I thought, should I ring CME and ask if they did an export licence? Surely a shop of that size who presumably deliver internationally on a regular basis would have done one - but just as surely, if they had, they would have told me, wouldn't they?
I was fretting (pun intended) that if I called them and asked about it, they might throw a spanner in the Customs works by doing a late form, so I sat quietly chewing my fingernails.
Paid my duty/VAT and waited. And BOOM, they have arrived today. No CITES docs but thank the Joseph, Mary and Jimi, no issues. Had read shit-scary experiences about guitars being impounded - destroyed even - for non-compliance but I seem to have dodged a bullet.
Seems very odd though that a significant international shipper is not up to speed on this?
And breathe....
"Anybody can play. The note is only 20%. The attitude of the motherf*cker who plays it is 80%" - Miles Davis
Comments
Now don't worry about it and just play and enjoy it
Wasn't sure whether PayPal would have refunded me in that situation or not. But thankfully, it won't now arise.
The sooner the damn rule is changed for guitars, the better...
The sooner this CITES stuff gets sorted the better!
You wouldn't want to have to clean that guy's shoes after he'd been walking in the woods near bears, would you.....
2010 will be ok if you are selling in the EU (UK after Brexit goes through). If you were to sell across a border, I think you would need to get a certificate.
A guitar made from 2017 onwards should come with some kind of paperwork to say it is legitimate, but you would probably still need to apply for the relevant paperwork to import/export from anywhere other than the EU.
If you are travelling with a guitar as a personal possession then you should be ok. I think you are allowed up to 10kg. Even a guitar made from solid rosewood wouldn't have a mass of 10kg - unless it was a doubleneck.
Have heard that in Canada CITES-applicable shipments can currently only be received by air due to CITES-trained staff only being at certain airports and not land border crossings. This has apparently effed with at least one guitar manufacturer's attempts to ship new inventory to dealers, because obviously coming from the US it's far more economical to ship by ground - and suddenly, if there's rosewood, that's off the table too.
Hope these companies are lobbying hard!
Hi Chris,
I can get this to you no problem....we have CITES permits.......the CITITES regulations only affect rosewood guitars made 2017 and newer. On a side note.. this Dano IS INCREDIBLE!! It's a house favorite!
Pickups are Lollars.
David Azizinamini
Chicago Music Exchange
They will catch you (despite being a lazy bunch)