Selectron Falls Foul of CITES

Magistrates have ordered the disposal of more than 500 Cordoba guitars bound for distributor Selectron, made with wood controlled by CITES international trade restrictions.

Border force agents seized the shipment as it entered the Port of Felixstowe on 11th October last year and HMRC has now applied for the instruments to be condemned at South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court, in Ipswich.

The court heard how Selectron  had been granted one of two types of legally required permit to import guitars with components made from East Indian Rosewood, which became subject to new trade rules in January 2017. In accordance with the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, magistrates granted an uncontested application for the condemnation of the 519 Cordoba guitars made with the wood.