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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Sarah,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It is illegal to ship ivory - whatever =
the age-
into Canada from the US or into the US from Canada. I tried =
getting the
CITES permits from the US Fish & Wildlife department to ship 6 old =
player
pianos (for salvage) to London, Ontario, Canada. They asked =
what they
were worth and I told them about $100.00 US each. I was then told that =
the
permits would cost $400.00 each by the time all was said and done. =
I
have a friend that went to Canada to play a gig at a festival. =
Upon
entering Canada, Customs Officials confiscated his guitar because of =
ivory
inlays! He paid a substantial fine to retrieve his guitar. They =
are very
fussy about that in our area.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Steve Grattan, Associate</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lost Chord Clinic</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Port Huron, MI</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=sarah@graphic-fusion.com =
href="mailto:sarah@graphic-fusion.com">Sarah
Fox</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, January 31, 2005 =
4:29
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Ivory Import =
Export</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Philip,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You wrote:</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2> <<Most countries allow importation of ivory =
products
made before the CITES <BR>Convention was signed (1974, I think). The =
U.S. is
the exception to this. It <BR>is legal, however, to buy and sell ivory =
within
the borders of the U.S. so <BR>long as it is not =
new.>><BR><BR>Dumb
question: Is it merely the *import*, and not the *export*, that =
is
problematic? In other words, is it possible, for argument's =
sake, to
take a pre-1974 (but not century-old) ivory key-topped piano and =
ship it
from the US to another country, so long as the authorities in =
that
country are willing? That is, would the US officials care one =
way or the
other? I have an acquaintance who may be relocating to =
another
country with a not-quite-century-old square grand. I can't
imagine a beautiful square with plastic keytops! =
Ick!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peace,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sarah</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>... Perhaps if ivory came from =
donkeys instead of
elephants... THEN the US government could care less.
<grin></FONT></DIV>
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