18. CITES Conference Information
Dear Customers,
With this notice, we would like to inform you about the amendments adopted at the 18th CITES Conference in August 2019.
As you are aware, since the beginning of 2017 all rosewoods (Dalbergia) and certain Bubinga species have been placed under the protection of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and listed in CITES Appendix II. These regulations have now been amended with regard to finished products, in particular musical instruments, as follows:
Dalbergia spp. (rosewood, CITES Appendix II), Guibourtia tessmannii (Bubinga), Guibourtia pellegriniana (Bubinga), Guibourtia demeusei (Bubinga);
Amendment of footnote #15, which now reads as follows:
"This annotation designates all parts and derivatives, except for:
a) leaves, flowers, pollen, fruits and seeds;
b) finished products containing a maximum weight of 10 kg of wood from the protected species per shipment (e.g. ballpoint pens, bowls, knives, etc.);
c) finished musical instruments, finished musical instrument parts and finished musical instrument accessories;
d) parts and derivatives of Dalbergia cochinchinensis covered by Annotation #4;
e) parts and derivatives of Dalbergia spp. originating in Mexico and exported from Mexico covered by Annotation #6."
This amendment has the following consequences for you as a manufacturer:
- Purchasing: The wood-specific information (CITES number, protection status, botanical name, country of origin) must still be stated on your suppliers’ commercial invoices.
- Incoming and outgoing goods register: This must still be maintained.
- Sales: Within the European Union:
→ We recommend continuing to include the wood-specific information (CITES number, protection status, botanical name, country of origin) on invoices. Even if this may no longer be strictly required, this information may prove useful to your customers at a later date (e.g. when entering the USA).
The most important change:
- Sales: Outside the European Union (export):
→ A separate export permit is no longer required.
(The separate import permit in the destination country is also no longer required.)
For better clarity, please find below a list of commonly traded Dalbergia species:
Rosewoods listed under CITES Appendix II:
Grenadilla (Dalbergia melanoxylon)
Bahia rosewood (Dalbergia frutescens / decipularis)
East Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)
Kingwood / Violetwood (Dalbergia cearensis)
Amazon rosewood (Dalbergia spruceana)
Honduras / Central American rosewood (Dalbergia stevensonii)
Cocobolo tucurensis (Dalbergia tucurensis)
Cocobolo retusa (Dalbergia retusa)
Grenadillo (Dalbergia grenadillo)
CITES Appendix I: Trade prohibited, except for pre-Convention specimens already declared:
Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra)
Further resolutions of the 18th CITES Conference:
Cedrela spp. has been listed under CITES Appendix II. This includes Cedrela odorata, also known as Spanish cedar or Cedro, which is commonly used in guitar making. As with Dalbergia species, an incoming and outgoing goods register must be maintained.
This notice is intended solely as an initial, non-binding source of information and does not claim to be complete or legally binding.
Sources:
https://www.bfn.de/themen/cites/arteninfos/einfuhr-von-holz-geschuetzter-arten.html
https://www.cites.org/eng/updates_decisions_cop18_species_proposals
