What is the law regarding importation of old pianos with ivory keys?

Valentina Lisitsa had an old Bosendorfer imported and some problems with customs but the ivory keys remained on the piano.

I can't see why there should be any problem with importing pianos with ivory keys so long as the piano was made before the laws came into effect.

Bech

Trying to get the Fish & Wildlife department to agree is the problem.

It's a crazy law and it makes importing and exporting vintage pianos a major pain in the back side.

I have heard that "mammoth ivory" is OK and is used in some of the newer high end pianos.

The law can be a strange thing and administered and enforced based on whether or not officials think a particular violation is worthy of making a case and expending resources.

However, someone can get in serious trouble for importing or exporting pianos with real ivory keys without the proper permits.

Here is a recent example of what I'm talking about

Rick

That would be horribly expensive, I would imagine. There's not much future in that industry either!

When you say it is a crzy law,I guess you mean some of the details are questionable.The principal of the law is right and correct.Anything that helps to discourage the ivory trade and the poaching of elephants is a good thing,I believe.
Just get the permits if you have to bring in a keyboard made from dead elephant
parts.
We've had the same law here since 1982.

Not much more expensive than a new set of ivory key tops, actually.

It's best to have this taken care of by a broker who is experienced with this. Lots of paperwork and documentation. Not all customs agents are created equal, so if you make an error and they want to make an example of you, well... you're screwed.

Kawai's Neotex is everything I ever wanted in a keycover:
[1] non-elephant and cruelty-free,
[2] nice texture on naturals and sharps,
[3] light-ivory color,
[4] easy to clean,
[5] no excuses where I can blame the keytops for my own piano-music rendering problems,

and my favorite:

[6] smiling Customs and Fish and Game officials at International terminals (this is a pure bonus, since I never look to meet one in person... but if I were to, I like to think of them putting out their hand in greeting and telling me what an honor is was to meet me, hoping that they will be able to make the performance [or holding out their tickets for an autograph]. They are assuring me that my piano's shipment has had no problems at all, and having cleared Customs it will be whisked to the performance venue, where a highly-skilled piano technician is standing-by...
...and they hoped I had a pleasant journey.)

You can import this piano if it is your own piano, as there is an exemption. You need a CITES certificate, and that can take a few months of paperwork. If the importation is for commercial uses, I doubt you can import it with the ivory.

find a customs broker familiar with CITES to help you with the paperwork.

Take care,

Steve

Steve Jackson, we removed ivory on a Steinway grand for a customer last year so he could move it to BC. This was his personal piano and he said that his research concluded that this was the only way he could take it with him. I wonder if he got bad info.

I was referring to importing to the U.S, where it is allowed.

However, you can bring it into Canada if you owned the piano for a certain number of years (I believe pre-ban) so there are exceptions. However, the costs and paperwork are unrelenting and usually not worth it.

Hope that helps.

Steve

A piano prof. at my alma mater purchased and imported a Hamburg Steinway B with ivory into Canada last year.

He was lucky. They could have seized the piano and fined him $10,000.00.

When a shipment of used pianos come in, if it is checked by customs, they usually check the keys for ivory.

I wouldn't advise trying this.

Take care,

Steve

I heard somewhere that the laws against importing pianos with ivory keys do not apply to pianos which are antique (and I don't know how that was defined...perhaps over 100 years old?). Anyone know anything about this?

From what I recall, customs was aware that the piano had Ivory. However, something was filled out incorrectly by the broker and that created quite a headache for the prof. The piano was eventually cleared, with the ivory intact. Not something I'd ever want to deal with, that's for sure!