Ivory Ban Impacting Musicians

The NY Times reported on the confiscation of seven bows from the Budapest Festival Orchestra at Kennedy International Airport because of suspected ivory content. The US Gov believed the bows showed signs of being ivory while the orchestra claimed there was none.  The musicians believed since they bows, to their knowledge did not contain ivory did not need a certificate to bring them into the US.  The interesting thing is the bows were returned, after showing documentation (article does not state of what) and paying a fine.  If the bows actually did not contain ivory, I wonder why there would be a fine.

To me, I dont see how these small scale operations and confiscation of such small amounts of ivory will have an effect on the illegal African elephant ivory trade. Additionally, using scarce government resources and manpower to confiscate 7 stringed instruments bows with possible ivory tips and collect a $500 fine seems to be over compensating and over enforcement.  I wonder what the cost to taxpayers was for this enforcement effort. I would rather see the resources put into stopping the poaching, rather than going after old bows with minimal ivory content.

The NY Times reports on the confiscation, fine and return of the bows.

The acclaimed Budapest Festival Orchestra had seven of its bows seized at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday because of what orchestra officials said were misplaced concerns that the bows contained forbidden African elephant ivory — forcing some of the players to use borrowed bows at a pair of high-profile concerts at Lincoln Center.

The bows were kept from entering the country less than a month after the Obama administration announced that it was relaxing some of the rules that it had instituted earlier this year governing African elephant ivory to make things easier for musicians who travel.

Stefan Englert, the executive director of the orchestra, said in an interview that the ensemble had taken steps to comply with new rules governing ivory, which were put into place in February and eased a bit in May. He said that the orchestra had gotten documentation for each bow, with photographs and letters from bow makers stating that they contained no banned ivory.

But when the bows arrived with cargo at Kennedy — the players in the orchestra flew to Newark Liberty International Airport — seven were seized. The seizure was first reported by the website slippedisc.com.

Claire Cassel, a spokeswoman for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said that an inspector with the service “found on physical examination” that the tips of seven of the bows were made from elephant ivory, adding that the material “clearly exhibited certain types of lines — called Schreger lines — that are only found in elephant ivory.”

Since the orchestra lacked the permits needed to import instruments containing elephant ivory, she said in an email, the service refused entry for the bows and issued a ticket. “The orchestra was allowed to re-export the bows when it left the United States; no bows were seized or forfeited to the U.S. government,’’ she said.

The episode highlights one of the difficulties musicians are grappling with: how to prove an instrument or bow tip does not contain the forbidden ivory. In this case, the orchestra believed its bows did not contain the banned ivory, so they would not need a special ivory import permit.

Officials at Lincoln Center, where the orchestra played Dvorak concerts on Sunday and Monday, helped arrange for the musicians to borrow bows.

“Every bow has a very different character,” Mr. Englert said, explaining that the situation had put some of the players in the less-than-ideal position of using unfamiliar bows.

The orchestra has been riding a wave of critical success in recent years. Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times wrote last year that its conductor and founder, Ivan Fischer, had built the orchestra “into one of the world’s most accomplished ensembles.” Mr. Fischer was profiled this month in The New Yorker. And Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, reviewing their Lincoln Center concerts in The Times, praised the orchestra’s “consistently glorious” sound.

The seven bows were given back, and sent on their way back to Budapest, on Tuesday after the orchestra showed its documentation and paid a total of $525 in fines and fees, Mr. Englert said.

Musicians have been complaining that it is difficult even for experts to tell which bows have ivory tips, and which have tips made of other materials. That concern seemed to be borne out by the experience of the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

“There was one person who brought two identical bows — and one of these bows was confiscated, and the other not,” Mr. Englert said. “It was the same bow maker, the same materials, the same year when the bows were made. So that was a bit surprising.”

Source: The NY Times