Importing and Exporting CITES-restricted Species

This information is from the Australian government and applies to exports from and imports to Australia of raw materials such as guitar body blanks; or finished products with more than 10kg content of a restricted species, such as Rosewood or Spanish Cedar.

Import:

To import CITES-listed specimens into Australia that were harvested before the species was first listed under CITES, you require a CITES pre‑Convention certificate from the CITES Management Authority of the exporting country. This certificate must travel with the shipment.

No documentation is required from the Department of the Environment and Energy, however we recommend that you provide a copy of the overseas pre-Convention certificate to the Department via email to confirm the pre-Convention certificate meets Australia’s requirements.

You should keep a copy of overseas pre-Convention certificates used to import timber to Australia; should you apply to re-export the timber in the future, this certificate will be requested as evidence it was imported legally.

Export:

To export CITES-listed specimens from Australia that were harvested before the species was first listed under CITES, you require a CITES pre-Convention certificate from the Department of the Environment and Energy. Pre-Convention certificates certify that the timber was harvested before the species was listed under CITES.

To obtain a pre-Convention certificate you need to provide evidence of the age, source and legal origin of the timber. Evidence may include:

• A record of the shipment or transit of the rosewood timber item into Australia (including a pre-Convention certificate from the exporting country);

• An independent age assessment of the item demonstrating that the rosewood timber was harvested prior to the listing date;

• Receipts/invoices showing the date of manufacture of finished products

• Receipt of purchase stating the date of purchase and the country of origin of the timber; or

• A Statutory Declaration and supporting information detailing how the rosewood item was acquired.

For stockpiles of Cedrela timber imported prior to the CITES listing date, we recommend you undertake an audit of the raw and worked timber you have on stock and send it to the Wildlife Trade Regulation permits team before 28 August 2020.

For exports of CITES-listed specimens, you should also contact the CITES Management Authority of the importing country to find out if they have any additional requirements. Contact details for overseas CITES Management Authorities are available at: https://cites.org/eng/cms/index.php/component/cp