So they may be exempting Rosewood instruments from CITES requirement? Makes sense, since CITES is particularly aimed at furniture companies. While you'd think it only applies to fingerboards - remember Rosewood is used a lot in acoustic construction - Martin recently discontinued a line of acoustics because of this.
According to MIA, the formal proposal has been nominally agreed to, but will require ratification at an upcoming CITES meeting that is being held in Sri Lanka in May.
According to MIA, the new amendment is a "recognition by the powers that be that musical instruments were (very unfortunately) ‘collateral damage’ in the rosewood restrictions that were chiefly aimed at stopping illegal logging in the furniture industry.”
The proposal aims to: exempt finished musical instruments containing rosewood; exempt finished musical instrument parts containing rosewood; and exempt finished musical accessories containing rosewood.
Read the GuitarWorld article here or read the MIA press release here
