Industry welcomes CITES instrument exception

Touring musicians will find it easier to cross borders carrying instruments made from CITES-listed species following last week’s Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP17) in Johannesburg.

As recommended last month by a number of industry bodies, conference delegates agreed to revise CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) resolution 16.8 to exempt musical instruments manufactured with endangered flora or fauna, and also extended the exemption to loaned instruments.

In a joint statement, Pearle* (Performing Arts Employers Associations League Europe), the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), the International Association of Violin and Bow Makers (EILA) and AEC (Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen) welcomed the decision and called on “all CITES parties to implement the recommendation […] in order to ease international cross-border movement of instruments in the context of live performances, exhibitions and competitions” and “urge[d] them to harmonise such implementation in order to provide the music sector with the necessary legal certainty when travelling internationally”.

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