I wanted to provide a summary of my experience, now that my Private Stock referenced above has been received. Turns out after a lot of fretting about what my responsibilities would be for "importing" a PRS (with rosewood) guitar from a Germany dealer, because of the
status of the wood used, I didn't need to do anything. But read on, I'll tell you what that status was, and let you in on a
twist in the tale.
The SC 594 Private Stock I purchased from Thomann Music had a Madagascar rosewood headstock overlay and fretboard. So I was informed by the dealer in Germany (I live in the U.S.) that it would take 6 to 8 weeks to apply to the German government for a re-export CITES certificate. Turns out it took about 5 1/2 weeks, so they were speedy in my case! So step one complete, certified, stamped, and signed re-export German CITES certificate in hand, they can now ship the guitar to me, along with said certificate. They can't really tell me what my obligations are as the "importer" (yes, as a consumer in this situation I am
importing the guitar, not just purchasing it.) Duties might or might not apply, and I may have to apply for one or several import applications, possibly with costs, especially since CITES is involved.
Well, I figured out duties should not be involved, because the guitar was originally manufactured in the U.S. Whether or not U.S. customs figured this out for themselves, I was never asked to pay duties. So I had that going for me. I was fully prepared to have to go through the pain of applying for one or two import certificates with Fish and Wildlife and one other agency, but was never asked for anything from customs except for my social security number when it stopped in Louisville (UPS HQ and Customs entry). I have no idea why they need my social security number, but hey, I wanted the guitar so I called and gave it to UPS.
So, it's looking like I needn't fill out any paperwork - UPS says it is on it's way to me! I get the guitar (and Thomann supplied paperwork) and it starts to make sense why this was so. On the paperwork, it says
"This instrument has been imported/manufactured before the wood that was used has been put under protection of species by the CITES agreement and the EC Council Regulation 338/97. The instrument in question is a registered pre-convention, registered at the supervisory authority of the Bamberg district administration."
Madagascar rosewood has only been protected by CITES since January 2, 2017. PRS apparently had indicated to Thomann they used "pre-convention" Maddy rosewood for this guitar, meaning they had acquired the wood prior to January 2, 2017, therefore the manufactured guitar is
also considered pre-convention. This is most likely why I wasn't required to fill out paperwork, and I only knew this after it was all over. [By the way, don't look to PRS to help with this detailed information, they will only provide it to the dealer upon original shipment, not to the consumer.]
Now, what's the twist? Thomann identified the rosewood on the guitar as Dalbergia latifolia - East Indian rosewood! So they completely mis-identified the wood, since Madagascar rosewood is Dalbergia baronii or Dalbergia madagascariensis! Hilarious, because it just illustrates what a farce this whole CITES thing is when it comes to "certifying" a retail manufactured guitar for shipment to a consumer. It is so obvious that no rosewood or protected wood will ever be "protected" at this point in the supply chain. So, it's stupid that we consumers should have to be hindered by this process. But, governments are involved, so there you go. The German government who "approved" or "re-certified" the CITES re-export certificate never even saw my guitar, much less could have noticed the rosewood was mis-identified. I get the intention of CITES, but they need to figure out how to stop hindering commerce for nothing. The solution is simple - the manufacturer certifies the product and material used with their government and everything is cool as long as that paperwork stays with the product (guitar). Done. Let's see how long it takes them to figure this out, if they even care.
Was it worth it, regardless?
Yep:
