CITES

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (best known by the acronym “CITES”) is an agreement between governments whose aim is to ensure that the international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. It accords varying degrees of protection to more than 33,000 species of plants and animals. Not one species on the CITES list has become extinct as a result of the agreement, which was put into force in 1975. In the guitar world, the most famous CITES-protected species is Brazilian rosewood, a Dalbergia species, but consideration is being given to other tonewoods, which may eventually fall under CITES protection during the next decade.