Problems importing into Canada?

[AmeriCanadian Dad]

Hi guys,

I ordered the 2018 PRS SE Custom 24 Zebrawood more than a month ago. My local guitar dealer said that PRS was having trouble shipping guitars into Canada because of the rosewood fret board and the shell inlays. I checked in with PRS customer service via email and they confirmed the issue and said that they had no idea when the customs problem would be resolved.

My questions are:
1. Has anyone imported a PRS into Canada this year? If so, which model was it and how long ago did you get it?
2. Has anyone imported any other guitars from the US to Canada this year with rosewood?
3. Has anyone else had similar issues with PRS or any other guitars in the past? And if so, how long did it take to resolve?

Thanks in advance for your time. I can't wait to get this beauty, so this extra waiting time is killing me!

 

[bodia]

The problems would be more recent. The updated CITES regulations went into effect last year and it has made shipping wood made products a challenge.

 

[AmeriCanadian Dad]

The problems would be more recent. The updated CITES regulations went into effect last year and it has made shipping wood made products a challenge.

Thanks for the info. But I am still wondering if anyone here has successfully imported a guitar with a rosewood fretboard into Canada in 2018.

 

[kmiko]

I'm wondering too. Anyone know if there's been any progress on resolving the issue?

 

[AmeriCanadian Dad]

I got a message from PRS customer service the other day:

We have been told that FWS is looking to re-write the wording on CITES documents to allow for ground shipping (again). We don’t have a definite time frame on this however we are hoping a couple weeks. We have started shipping via air freight.

 

[Sir Stinkalot]

Why are they allowed in via air but not road?

 

[bluefade]

Trade wars...Anyone

 

[AmeriCanadian Dad]

It was before the tarriff crap ... Apparently the CITES agreements have designated certain places (airports) as being OK for the shipping of rosewood, etc. PRS appeared to be unaware that their ground shipping was not covered until it was too late.

 

[kes7u]

Trade wars...Anyone

Nah. Look in the other direction. This is environmental stuff.

Kevin

 

[Eddie kim]

I wonder if prs will use more ebony and maple for fret boards.

 

[AmeriCanadian Dad]

I wonder if prs will use more ebony and maple for fret boards.

I don't think so. It just seems to me (and a music-store rep that I spoke to) that PRS was caught more flat-footed on this change than the other big guitar makers -- even though the PRS customer service reps I spoke with said that they were working with the bureaucrats from the beginning.

I just want my guitar. It's already been two months, and there is no reason to believe that anything will be changing soon. Just hopes and expectations at this point, nothing solid.

 

[veinbuster]

Why are they allowed in via air but not road?

It isn’t a matter of being allowed one way and not the other. One channel is just more efficient clearing it.

 

[AmeriCanadian Dad]

It isn’t a matter of being allowed one way and not the other. One channel is just more efficient clearing it.

Actually, from what they’ve told me, only the airports had been OK’d as export points thus far.

Not including land points of exit to Canada and Mexico was an oversight by the guitar companies who helped the bureaucrats write the new export regulations. They weren’t aware of the additional restrictions until recently, which is why they have a backlog of guitars stuck in their factory.

At least that’s what I’ve been able to get out of them after incessant pestering.

 

[AmeriCanadian Dad]

I got this today from a PRS customer service rep who says a shipment is scheduled to be sent to my local music store later this week:

We are still waiting for FWS to implement new CITES language to allow for ground shipping. In lieu of this we are shipping via air freight to Canadian dealers.

 

[Sir Stinkalot]

Interesting. I have been waiting for the same guitar to arrive in Australia since early December. The store that I have my order with said they are flown in when they are ready which I was a little surprised with as it’s an expensive process. Not sure if it is true but it may have something to do with this CITES stuff.

Seems odd that they would allow air but not ground. If it is trying to control the movement of something it doesn’t really matter how it moves.

 

[veinbuster]

Seems odd that they would allow air but not ground. If it is trying to control the movement of something it doesn’t really matter how it moves.

I don’t think the government intent is to allow some modes of transport and not others. The protocol for processing just hasn’t equalized.

 

[rugerpc]

Think of it this way...

Multiple shippers going through airports can be screened collectively and centrally at one location.

Shippers using ground all ship to their own dedicated ground distribution centers. That means inspectors would have to be stationed at EVERY receiving ground center for every shipper.

logistics.

 

[Whitecat]

Yep, in the US all CITES-applicable shipments can only land at certain ports of entry too. They can’t just come in “anywhere.” Canada doing similar obviously - inspectors with appropriate training are best placed at airports since they’ll cover off the most incoming possibilities that way.

 

[AmeriCanadian Dad]

The latest is that a large shipment was sent via air from Maryland on April 5. It seems like they’ll get it all ok’d by customs at one (or more) entry point for export into Canada and then distribute them once they are on the other side.

Has anyone received one, or even heard a solid date for when yours will arrive?

 

[AmeriCanadian Dad]

Well, my PRS’ long strange trip is over. She arrived today. And she’s a beauty!

Many thanks to Jim Cullen at PRS for his help.