Thanks to the leadership of the League of American Orchestras, international travel and commerce with certain musical instruments just got easier. Policy requests led by the League, in partnership with others in the international music community, gained approval on August 28 at the gathering of 183 parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in Geneva, Switzerland. New policies will improve the ability of performing artists to travel, redirect enforcement resources to better support conservation, and advance critical conservation efforts while also supporting international cultural activity. The League participated in the deliberations at the 18th Conference of the Parties to CITES, as treaty negotiators considered new rules related to items containing rosewood, cedrela, and mammoth ivory, and weighed improvements to the Musical Instrument Certificate used by touring orchestras.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was a leading supporter of the policy improvements, and will partner with the League to produce a webinar about the new rules for musical instruments. Detailed information about the current rules for traveling with musical instruments containing endangered species material is available on the League of American Orchestras website.
