CITES changes in the work?

[AirCap]

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/27/754509680/musical-instruments-to-be-exempt-from-restrictions-on-heavily-trafficked-rosewoo

Okay, so the travel ban might soon be lifted. What about the makers ban?

 

[bagman67]

Here's hoping the changes result in diminished fear of traveling musicians having their instruments confiscated. 


I fully support the idea of conserving tropical rainforests and indeed I generally support the restrictions on trade of raw lumber of rare hardwood species, but as Brazil burns one cannot but observe that instrument manufacturers are indeed peripheral to the issue of uncontrolled destruction of forests, and owners of instruments made of such species themselves are vanishingly tiny factors in the whole affair.

 

[Seamas]

Here's hoping the changes result in diminished fear of traveling musicians having their instruments confiscated. 


I fully support the idea of conserving tropical rainforests and indeed I generally support the restrictions on trade of raw lumber of rare hardwood species, but as Brazil burns one cannot but observe that instrument manufacturers are indeed peripheral to the issue of uncontrolled destruction of forests, and owners of instruments made of such species themselves are vanishingly tiny factors in the whole affair.

I agree on the whole. I think the core problems with  CITES is clumsy writing. The intent is good and the problem is real.

I do however think the manufacturers do have some culpability in the problem in their historically hyping some of the vanishing species and perpetuating the notion that these woods have qualities far beyond their visual aesthetics. Kind of akin to rhino horn for virility.

 

[BlueTalon]

I don't have any objection to rules that protect certain species from extinction.  And as much as I dislike bureaucracy, I wouldn't even mind that very much if they would just make the whole process user friendly. 

I have been an advocate of instrument passports ever since I learned about CITES.  I mean a passport for every instrument made with wood, regardless of whether there are any CITES-restricted woods included.  Why?  Because you never know when a new wood is going to be added to the list.  Currently, the process for getting an instrument passport is expensive and cumbersome.  They, meaning the government agencies that oversee and administer CITES, should make it really easy and inexpensive for manufacturers to include documentation with every sale.  Some kind of standardized form that would be recognized by all border and customs authorities.

 

[AirCap]

Did you READ the article? CITES was prompted by Chinese demand for rosewood furniture, and the law was a kneejerk reaction to it. Guitar makers were simply ensnared in a poorly written document.

I am telling you - instrument makers worldwide use only a small percent of the worlds woods. In the US alone, less than 7% of the population buys musical instruments of any kind. That includes cheap electronic keyboards, etc. How many of us buy furniture? ALL of us. In the numbers game, the musical instrument business barely scratches the surface compared to the rest of the users of wood.

Further to that, musical instrument makers are the loudest voices of warning, and about the only ones actually doing something about it (ala Taylor replanting ebony trees).

Once again, dim bureaucrats missed the target and squashed a bug when they were aiming for an elephant.

 

[Cagey]

I fully support the idea of conserving tropical rainforests and indeed I generally support the restrictions on trade of raw lumber of rare hardwood species, but as Brazil burns one cannot but observe that instrument manufacturers are indeed peripheral to the issue of uncontrolled destruction of forests, and owners of instruments made of such species themselves are vanishingly tiny factors in the whole affair.

I read an article recently that says the whole Amazon/Brazil fire scare is largely just that - a scare with little to draw attention to it unless you need something to point at to support an exaggerated narrative. Fire density/frequency has actually gone down over the years, and a great many burning today are normal/typical.

 

[Rick]

Two things.  I never had a problem getting a guitar on a plane, or off ...
I met some Brazilians over the weekend and they were of the same opinion as kg.

 

[DangerousR6]

Two things.  I never had a problem getting a guitar on a plane, or off ...
I met some Brazilians over the weekend and they were of the same opinion as kg.

You've never flown United????
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo[/youtube]

 

[AirCap]

I read an article recently that says the whole Amazon/Brazil fire scare is largely just that

Most of the pictures and video I see of late covering the wildfires show scrubland, and what seems to be prairie. Hardly "Rain Forest" - which is a misnomer in its own right. When I think Amazon, I think a FRICKING JUNGLE, and I'm not seeing that in recent coverage.

 

[Cagey]

Brazil has turned down over $20M in aid from the EU to put the fires out. Must not be too worried about them.

 

[stratamania]

If you are not seeing the amount of fires in mainly Brazil you are looking at doubtful sources minimising the issue. The Amazon produces 20% of the worlds oxygen, try living without it.

As for rosewood whatever it is used for it creates a demand. Not everyone that uses furniture has rosewood furniture so the percentage of population of a type of user is not really a valid argument. That more wood is used overall in furniture than a guitar is. But neither make the problem go away.

But...here is the thing just to say we should be excluded because we don't use that much does not make a much bigger issue go away.

Nobody should be aiming at elephants of which more are being poached illegally in Africa than are being born. And for what Ivory.

Brazil has turned down aid because of a political agenda. Its ridiculous.

 

[Cagey]

The whole thing is a political agenda, which is why we probably shouldn't even be talking about it here. In any event, you're right - no amount justifies just wasting it with fire. But, if the idiots are just going to burn it anyway, we may as well turn it into something useful. I'm just happy that what amounts to be the relatively few twigs used for guitars isn't going to be singled out for attention.

 

[AirCap]

The Amazon produces 20% of the worlds oxygen

That's a lie promoted by greenie weenies. Please don't repeat the lie.

Brazil has turned down aid because of a political agenda.

They turned it down because it's not really a problem.

 

[ByteFrenzy]

They turned it down because it's not really a problem.

It appears they reversed that decision. Did it just become a problem now?

 

[aarontunes]

I'm closing this one down.

• Guitars and guitar related discussion = cool.
• Political discussion and commentary = not cool.
• The trajectory of discussions on climate change and related topics is pretty predictable. See #2.