CITES - What every bass player should know

[Tom Bomb]

Some down under wonderment here from the Land of the Long White Cloud's Department of Conservation, regarding CITES.

Note the bit about 'Pre-Convention status [which] applies to items that were acquired before the species was listed on CITES. Evidence must be provided. [emphasis added].'

'Evidence' should be just a matter of contacting your maker or supplier with enough detail to secure status for the instrument or the material in your possession - photos, serial numbers, batch numbers, etc. - so that they then can furnish you with appropriate certification.

It's in everybody's best interests that these details and services become commonplace. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill - it's hard to foresee any real problems ahead, other than teething problems

CITES permits

Find out about CITES permit requirements, special cases and application forms for New Zealand.
Find out about CITES Appendices, permit requirements and application forms for New Zealand.

Permit requirements
This table shows permit requirements for importing and exporting CITES-listed species. To find out on which Appendix/Schedule your species is listed, check the Invalid Link Removed.



Importing into New Zealand


Exporting to another country

Appendix I/ Schedule 1

Import permit from DOC and

Export/re-export permit from country of export

Import permit from country of destination
and

Export/re-export permit from DOC

Appendix II/ Schedule 2

Export/re-export permit from country of export

Export/re-export permit from DOC

Appendix III/ Schedule 3

Export permit or certificate of origin from country of export

Export permit or certificate of origin from DOC

Check the FAQ page for more information.


Special cases

These are special permitting cases that exist under CITES. More information about these special cases can be obtained from your local CITES authority.

Personal effects exemption: Applies in limited situations. Country of import and export must have personal effects exemptions. Items must be carried on the person, in accompanying baggage, or be part of a household move.

Pre-Convention status: Applies to items that were acquired before the species was listed on CITES. Evidence must be provided.

Scientific exchange exemption: Applies in limited situations. Importing and exporting institutes must be registered with CITES Management Authority. Only certain scientific specimens qualify.

Hunting trophies: Regular permitting applies. Some species have export quotas. Copies of hunting licenses and other documents may be required


Application form for New Zealand CITES permits

In New Zealand, CITES permits and certificates are issued under the Trade In Endangered Species Act (TIES Act).

To obtain a New Zealand CITES permit or certificate, complete and send this application form and the required fee to the appropriate DOC office - contacts are below.

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Allow 20 working days for the application to be assessed and processed.

If you wish to apply for a certificate authorising the multiple export of artificially propagated plants contact DOC and the relevant application form will be sent to you.


Permit fees

Permits will not be issued without payment being received. Payment can be made by cheque or via online banking.Cheques are payable to "Department of Conservation".

In some cases, other permits and fees apply. Contact your local Department of Conservation Office to check.


Permit

Fee
Regular import/export permit
$81.78

Permit authorising export of live parrots
bred in captivity
$613.33

Second or subsequent permit for export of
live parrots bred in captivity
$265.78

Certificate authorising the re-export of live parrots
$265.78

Fee for the grant of a certificate authorising the
multiple export of artificially propagated plants
$429.33


Contacts

Application forms can be sent to the CITES Officer at the following DOC offices:

Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland Office
Phone: +64 9 307 4820 or +64 9 307 4868
Email: [email protected]z
Address: Private Bag 68908
Newton
Auckland 1145


Whare Kaupapa Atawhai / Conservation House
Phone: +64 4 495 8623
Email: [email protected]z
Address:
PO Box 10420
Wellington 6143

Ōtautahi / Christchurch Office
Phone: +64 3 371 3739
Email: [email protected]z
Address: Private Bag 4715
Christchurch Mail Centre
Christchurch 8140


Related link
If you are exporting New Zealand plants or animals you may also need a Wildlife Act permit. Contact your nearest DOC Wildlife permit contact for advice.

PS: I wonder how you'd go with a dead parrot?

'Ello, I wish to register a complaint…

 

[scotch]

...

I'd love to now the details on those 6 seizures, Turnaround!

Still curious!

 

[pnchad]

as per the sick state of info

folks fearing the exact opposite of what they should

(i.e. The northern White Rhino became officially extinct this week)

 

[BlueTalon]

You have most certainly missed mine.

Alright then, allow me to explain the thrust of my previous comments.

(A) Getting a passport for an instrument is not a user-friendly process.
(B) Passports are only issued for instruments that actually have materials from endangered sources.
(C) Passports are not issued for instruments that do not have any endangered materials on them.

Which means if you instrument has anything on it that might be confused with anything on the CITES list, you are at the mercy of whoever is checking you though the border. If the official thinks part of your instrument is suspect, that person isn't going to automatically assume you don't have a passport for your instrument because you don't need it -- they are as likely to assume you don't have a passport because you might not know the law or because you are trying to get away with something.


I just think life will be a lot easier for everybody if they can get the process streamlined so compliance can be made easy, and if all guitar makers and guitar parts makers can issue documentation to go with their products that would be recognized by CITES officials.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I think you might have missed the point of my post, if that's all you took from it.

You have most certainly missed mine.

Alright then, allow me to explain the thrust of my previous comments.

(A) Getting a passport for an instrument is not a user-friendly process.
(B) Passports are only issued for instruments that actually have materials from endangered sources.
(C) Passports are not issued for instruments that do not have any endangered materials on them.

Which means if you instrument has anything on it that might be confused with anything on the CITES list, you are at the mercy of whoever is checking you though the border. If the official thinks part of your instrument is suspect, that person isn't going to automatically assume you don't have a passport for your instrument because you don't need it -- they are as likely to assume you don't have a passport because you might not know the law or because you are trying to get away with something.


I just think life will be a lot easier for everybody if they can get the process streamlined so compliance can be made easy, and if all guitar makers and guitar parts makers can issue documentation to go with their products that would be recognized by CITES officials.

BT's points are key, here.Since we are to provide the burden of proof it must work both ways. I would want to be able to prove that my instrument does NOT have any restricted materials on it. Some TSA idiot might not make the distinction between, say, bone or ivory, for one example. Then there are all the various woods, who would really expect a TSAA to be an expert in that?

 

[pnchad]

Spending an awful lot of time on a problem you don't have

Shake a fist at the sky

 

[Turnaround]

Still curious!

What in particular would you like to know? The basses were new and had Cocobolo tops, but not the particular species cited in CITES. The manufacturer had gone to great length in the US to acquire certification from American authorities to allow the basses to be shipped to Canada. The shipping company took the original documents and provided photocopies to accompany the basses into Canada. The basses were held up at the Canadian border - they would not accept the photocopied documentation and insisted on the originals. After a lot of fussing from the manufacturer, the shipper and the receiver, the basses were released in Canada only after the original documents were retrieved and set to the Canadian authorities. It should not have been necessary for all this fuss. The documents were on file with US authorities and were in the hands of the shipper. But bureaucracy is like that - reason goes bye-bye while someone adheres to a misguided notion of what is required. Reason is not in the job description.

 

[scotch]

So, it wasn't a musician is crossing the border with an instrument but rather a manufacturer shipment of multiple basses that was delayed?

 

[Turnaround]

So, it wasn't a musician is crossing the border with an instrument but rather a manufacturer shipment of multiple basses that was delayed?

In the first case it was 3 instruments in a shipment from the US. The othe two cases were musicians crossing the border with their instruments.

 

[Jim Carr]

Here is a link to the AFM latest announcements concerning permits, warnings, and other links:

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The USFWS regulation page is current. The actions by the AFM linked at the bottom of the 2014 letter from Ray Hair are current.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Here is a link to the AFM latest announcements concerning permits, warnings, and other links:

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That AFM bulletin is dated July 11, 2014, have there been any revisions since that time?

 

[markjazzbassist]

can anyone help a brother out? i got a 69 fender jazz, i need to figure out if it has indian or brazilian rosewood. also is my binding or inlay illegal now? i need to know if i can fly with this thing.

 

[Jeff Scott]

The binding and inlays pose no problem.

 

[markjazzbassist]

The binding and inlays pose no problem.

great i just need to lick my fretboard tonight to test if it's brazilian or indian. everything i've read so far says 66 was the year they started phasing out brazilian, some things said they never used brazilian. i'll find out tonight.

 

[Jim Carr]

great i just need to lick my fretboard tonight to test if it's brazilian or indian. everything i've read so far says 66 was the year they started phasing out brazilian, some things said they never used brazilian. i'll find out tonight.

You are determining the type of rosewood based on taste?

 

[Jeff Scott]

great i just need to lick my fretboard tonight to test if it's brazilian or indian...... i'll find out tonight.

You are determining the type of rosewood based on taste?

Some just like to do stuff like this.

 

[markjazzbassist]

You are determining the type of rosewood based on taste?

yeah read it on some guitar forums. indian rosewood has a peanutty scent and taste. brazilian is very rosy and sweet. definately have indian rosewood so my axe is safe to travel. sweet relief!!

 

[Baird6869]

yeah read it on some guitar forums. indian rosewood has a peanutty scent and taste. brazilian is very rosy and sweet. definately have indian rosewood so my axe is safe to travel. sweet relief!!

Cool! If I ever get pulled aside at the border, with a rosewood board, I will tell the customs guy to lick my bass! I would expect a full and intrusive search would be the response.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Cool! If I ever get pulled aside at the border, with a rosewood board, I will tell the customs guy to lick my bass! I would expect a full and intrusive search would be the response.

 

[Squid-TEGH]

I'm not sure how to interpret the CITES list. I know my bass is made of mahogany (with some maple) and has a rosewood fingerboard, but nowhere does it say which mahogany and which rosewood :\.
That said, it's optimistic at this stage to think I'll be taking the bass overseas any time soon .