Pernambuco

From March 2026 onwards, the 2007 Appendix II CITES restrictions on unworked pernambuco wood (Paubrasilia echinata) have been extended to cover commercial international trade of finished bows made from pernambuco. All such trade therefore now requires CITES permits and new bows can only be sold internationally if the wood from which they are made was harvested before 2007 and its ‘pre-convention’ status is verified.

As we specialise in bows from the 1800s and 1900s, all our bows are automatically eligible for CITES permits and can be sold across international borders. However, in some countries there may be considerable wait-times for these permits. To facilitate our compliance with CITES regulations, while avoiding delays for our EU clients, we have started a subsidiary company in the EU and many of our bows are now located there.

If you wish to buy a bow which is located in the same jurisdiction as your own country of residence, there is no need for CITES permits. If the bow you wish to buy would need to be exported from its location to your home country, we can apply for the necessary permits and help you manage the process.

Although the primary intention of the new CITES restrictions on pernambuco is to reduce any incentive for the illegal felling of pernambuco trees in Brazil and to prevent post-2007 wild-harvested wood from being used to make new bows, the change has potential consequences for all bow owners. There is an exemption which covers anyone traveling “for non-commercial trade only for the purpose of paid and unpaid performance, personal use, display, loan, competition, teaching, appraisal, or repair, provided that this does not change the ownership and that such transport is not for sale, transfer or disposal of the specimen outside of the owner’s usual State of residence”; see the final section of this document. If you are travelling for any one of these non-commercial purposes you do not need import/export permits or a Musical Instrument Certificate for the pernambuco and you do not need to declare your bow at border control posts. However, you will need permits if you intend to buy or sell a pernambuco bow across an international border – even to another musician. If you are considering buying a bow made after 2007, make sure that that there is paperwork to prove the legal origin of the wood.

Further information from a UK perspective is available in this briefing sheet from the UK CITES Management Authority and this one from the Independent Society of Musicians.

Clients are welcome to contact us for advice about CITES and pernambuco; we can help you understand the implications of this legislation and can explain what paperwork is necessary to protect the investment value of your bows.

Ivory

International trade in ivory taken from elephants and other endangered species has been restricted under Appendix I of CITES since 1975. In 2018 the UK Ivory Act came into force and in 2021 EU legislation was enacted, which means that in the UK and the EU (as well as many other countries), domestic trade in ivory is also restricted. However, all this legislation allows for exemptions for small amounts of ivory in pre-convention (pre-1975) musical instruments. The amount of ivory on the face plate at the tip of a violin bow is well under the thresholds (it is about 0.4g), and exemptions can also be issued for historic ivory frogs, as they account for less than 20% of the volume of the bow.

We obtain exemptions for all the bows containing ivory which we import, export or sell within the UK – and similarly for the EU. Exemption codes are only valid for one movement or sale; the current code for any of our bows is available on request.

Confusion about the rules on ivory in musical instruments has led to many bow owners replacing original elephant ivory bow face plates with with mammoth ‘ivory’, which is not restricted, or with synthetic materials. We now proactively replace ivory face plates when bows are re-haired or repaired, unless the original ivory plate is important to the historic integrity of a bow.

Tortoiseshell

International trade in tortoiseshell has been restricted under Appendix I of CITES since 1973. As with ivory, both the UK and the EU have also enacted legislation to restrict domestic trade. Exemptions are available (for both international and domestic trade) for violin bows with pre-1973 tortoiseshell frogs. In the UK the domestic exemptions are called A10 certificates; confusingly, they are not required for pre-1947 tortoiseshell.