crabby wrote:
From reading through a bunch of current CITES material, it appears that taking a bass that contains rosewood with you to another country is permitted if you are using it for performance or personal enjoyment. If you are using it for commercial purposes, there seems to be some grey area. It also appears to be perfectly ok to buy a bass in another country and take it back with you. The big issue is shipping over international borders. That's where it's real clear that you need the appropriate paperwork or the instrument could be seized with no recourse to get it back. Charges and huge fines could also follow.
Basically this would appear to kill a lot of buying and selling of basses that contain rosewood between USA and Canada where I live. There is a very good chance you could ship the bass and never have a problem, but who wants to take that chance.
+1
It's the shipping that will get ya. Simply traveling with a bass that you own/have is ok -- I've done it already, internationally. That said, you never know if the agent in front of you understands the nuances of the law, so I guess there's always a bit of a risk until it becomes more established and understood.
