U.S. Resources
The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has reached an agreement with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for FWS to take over validation of CITES documents and inspect and clear imports and exports of musical instruments and other imports which contain both CITES-listed non-living plant species and any wildlife species (regardless of whether they are CITES listed or not).
The agreement, which had been urged by NAMM and other music industry organizations for more than a year, has the effect of streamlining the import and export of instruments containing both listed plants and wildlife species. The items still have to enter or leave the U.S. through ports designated by either APHIS or FWS. Prior to the agreement, the ports were limited to those which appeared on both the APHIS and FWS lists.