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As some of you may know, I was considering ordering the new PRS 509 from a dealer in the U.S and shipping to Toronto. Sweetwater advised me they are unable to ship to Canada due to the Jan 2, 2017 CITES regulations banning shipping of rosewood across international borders. They can ship anywhere in the U.S but Canada is out of bounds for them. They apparently can apply for a certificate of exemption with the Bureau of Fisheries and Wildlife but there is tremendous beaureaucratic delay and it sounds like they are not going to the trouble. PRS says it will continue to ship to dealers in Canada, I believe they can organize packages of multiple exemption certificates but a seller from the U.S on Reverb would have to organize a certificate to sell across border. Apparently, a U.S citizen could bring a guitar across border for personal use if it contained no more than 10 kg of rosewood. Manufacturers may end up looking to substitute ebony or richlite on their fretboards. Apparently the regulation makes no allowance for when a guitar was built or the tonewood acquired.
There is a 4 mos production delay on the PRS 509, in any case. I did try a PRS 513 model I found locally but I think I’ll defer the new purchase for now and see how this all shakes out.
If you are looking for a nice rosewood acoustic you may want to get on with it.
John
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