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My parents are heading to Brazil for a vacation pretty soon so I have a question about wood importation rules. Is it legal for them to bring back a billets of wood?

-Jim

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-Jim Wick

I think that you must at least have NO bark on the wood, Thats about all I know on the matter. (Insects live in the bark). This was what I was told on a Mexico buying trip.

You might try calling your local USDA office and asking about the import regulations. If your parents carry this wood with them, it will probably get more scrutiny, and chance for confiscation, that if they ship it. Do not try to bring Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) or they could end up with a big fine.
Some countries require their own certification to take raw wood out. While it is a lot of fun to try to get a bargain by buying your own billets, the truth is that you will probably spend less in the long run and get better wood if you buy prepared sets from a reputable dealer.

Due to the exchange rate right now this is very good advice.
Over the years I have brought a lot of wood from Brazil. The cedro is nice but seasonal and hard to find the good stuff. I usually bring a few billets of it every time I go there.
Don't even think about BRW, you can't find it there and there is more of it here anyway.
Mahogany is also another one on the list to not bring.
My advice would be to enjoy your vacation rather than trying to hunt around for wood, especially if you don't speak the language or know someone there.

Something else to consider is the airlines surcharges for excess weight and number of bags these days ... depending on how much wood you had they might end up charging you more on surcharges than if you just bought it locally when its all tallied up .....

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

As always, good insights. Thanks.

-Jim

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-Jim Wick