Mr. Smythe's problem seems to be a case of arbitrary and capricious
enforcement.

A friend of mine and I moved numerous ivory-keyed pianos (better than
a dozen -- the exact number escapes me) across the border and back via
Detroit and Windsor [the Motor Cities] during the period ca. 1980-1995
with never so much as a raised eyebrow.  Until this topic was posted,
I never knew that CITES took effect in 1973, nor was I aware the
penalties for moving ivory across the border.

At any rate, some communication with our respective congresspersons
seems in order, as suggested by Mr. Kinsler.   If one must bring old
pianos across the border, until the rules are amended perhaps bringing
pianos in or out of the U. S. through the Motor Cities seems a
less-troublesome route.

Dave Vincent

 [ The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service maintains an extensive
 [ and informative web site beginning at http://www.fws.gov/
 [ with a useful search engine at http://search.fws.gov/
 [ A search for "piano" returned these URLs:
 [
 [ http://international.fws.gov/public/as.pdf  Asian Elephant Ivory
 [ http://international.fws.gov/public/af.pdf  African Elephant Ivory
 [ http://international.fws.gov/permits/antique.pdf  Permit Form
 [
 [ -- Robbie