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I have some lovely CITES-listed wood which I had imported to the USA. It is CITES certified with all the proper import paperwork and I am trying to make a business case for re-exporting some of it as back and side sets. I think I understand which permits I need and which official hoops I need to jump through in order to keep everything above board, but before I jump through those hoops I am wondering if it is feasible as a practical matter... In particular I'd be curious to know people's experiences good or bad with buying or selling legal CITES timbers across borders. Do you have any advice for the uninitiated? Any info would be much appreciated.

I haven't had experience with the paper work but I will hazard a guess that it's easier to get it out of the US than in. Being the selfless person I am though, I will volunteer you my address for test purposes. Send away.

I bet it's something really nice.

Ya big hearted lug!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

The best thing I have found is to use a customs broker that is familiar with the requirements and will handle the paperwork for you. It makes everything so much easier. The other thing you have to keep in mind is that while you may be able to get it out of your country, your customer may have different requirements for getting it into their country. This all depends what level of CITES you are talking about. For example if you are talking about Brazilian and your destination was Canada I believe the customer would need a Canadian CITES import permit in addition to all your export paperwork.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
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House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
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No.... The process of obtaining the export documents for each shipment is very time consuming and costly. That is why most tonewood dealers wont export CITES species. You will have hundreds of dollars worth of time invested in each shipment so unless a single shipment has enough value you won't make any profit or likely even loose money.
Beyond the profit factor is the criminal liability. Mistakes on CITES paperwork do not exist. If you make what you consider a mistake on the forms the law enforcement agency considers that mistake a criminal offense.

Do your B/S sets have enough profit margin to cover the export costs and leave a profit?
Is the leftover profit enough to cover a legal defense in Federal Court?
I'm guessing the answer is....No.

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Lance Peck

Well it isn't encouraging that I haven't heard any success stories yet. It sounds like there's a good reason for that...

If you know Darren Hipner, he would be a good guy to talk to. He has sold a lot of CITES wood.