The Pernambuco Situation

Recently Brazil has been trying to limit the export of Pernambuco. Pernambuco is the wood that has been used for bow making for several hundred years. Originally the wood was used by the clothing industry in France as a source of colored dyes. The color of the wood, which ranges from a yellow to a deep reddish brown, was extracted from the wood and imparted to cloth. Bow makers discovered that the wood had the perfect characteristics needed to make fine bows: it was bendable, would hold its shape, and had the perfect stiffness to weight ratio. Pernambuco was plentiful; it was used for everything from shelving and cabinetry to fence posts. Due to overharvesting and climate change, the wood has become more precious.

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It has been very difficult to get Pernambuco bows.  None are being shipped from Brazil until the situation is cleared up.  It is expected that prices of Pernambuco bows will rise.  

The governing body for endangered plants and animals, which goes by the acronym CITES, recently met to determine the classification for Pernambuco going forward. During this review process time, and up until the present, it has been very difficult to get Pernambuco bows. None are being shipped from Brazil until the situation is cleared up. It is expected that prices of Pernambuco bows will rise.

Here is a letter from Cop19, the convention that recently met to determine the future of Pernambuco. While it is good news for the bow industry, it is still difficult to get Pernambuco bows. Hopefully the situation will stabilize soon.

Matt Stamell

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 25. 2022
CITES Approves Revision to Pernambuco Listing Panama City, Panama – The 19th Conference of the Parties (CoP19) to CITES (the UN Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) today approved a decision affecting the international trade of Paubrasilia echinata or pernambuco. The decision reflects an agreement reached among Brazil, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, the United States and other CITES Parties, including music sector stakeholders, who participated in a dedicated working group on the topic.

Pernambuco was first listed on CITES Appendix II in 2007 with an annotation (Annotation #10) requiring CITES permits for international shipments of wood and bow blanks. In June 2022, Brazil introduced a proposal to list pernambuco on CITES Appendix I, which would have triggered very severe restrictions on trade and travel, including, for the first time, the crossborder movement of finished bows. Following working group discussions, Brazil modified its original proposal.

Today’s decision keeps pernambuco on Appendix II and revises Annotation #10 to require CITES permits for “All parts, derivatives and finished products, except re-export of finished musical instruments, finished musical instrument accessories and finished musical instrument parts.” When the listing takes effect in 90 days, initial shipments of finished bows, and pernambuco in all forms, from Brazil will require CITES permits. Finished bows that are “re-exported”, i.e., are crossing a border after their initial shipment from Brazil, remain exempt from the CITES permit requirement.

In addition, the decision contains voluntary measures that call on CITES, CITES Parties and CITES Committees to, within the next three years, consider systems for documenting the legality of bows and Pernambuco stockpiles, support capacity-building for enforcement and conservation efforts within Brazil and among Parties, and identify plantation-grown pernambuco that could be certified for sustainable use.

“We are very pleased with the outcome and the spirit of cooperation on the part of Brazil and other CITES Parties that made this consensus result possible, said Daniel J. Weisshaar, President of the International Alliance of Violin and Bow Makers for Endangered Species. “Our trade has worked for more than twenty years to conserve this iconic species, which is so vitally important for stringed instrument music. We look forward to continuing these efforts in cooperation with Brazil.” “Musicians are grateful for the ongoing opportunity to engage in international music making while they also partner with bow makers and CITES management authorities globally toward next steps that will advance essential conservation efforts for pernambuco,” said Heather Noonan, Vice President for Advocacy for the League of American Orchestras.

“Musicians have a unique capacity to be ambassadors for the species they hold in their hands, concert after concert.”

Representatives from a range of music sector organizations participated in CoP19 and provided inputs that led to the final outcome. These included the International Alliance of Violin and Bow Makers for Endangered Species, the International Society for Violin and Bow Makers, the International Pernambuco Conservation Initiative, the League of American Orchestras, Chambre Syndicale de Facture Instrumentale, Confederation of European Music Industries, and the Japanese Music Industry Association. In addition, 55 music organizations from around the world submitted a joint position paper that expressed concern about deforestation and illegal trafficking, outlined the sector’s opposition to an Appendix I listing and urged CITES Parties to obtain a solution that would conserve pernambuco and enable trade and travel of finished pernambuco bows.
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