Posted on 10/11/2011 3:51:13 AM PDT by Kaslin
This is an area of the industry that just doesn't come up when you're talking with people at NAMM, or touring factories, or chatting with people in the business.
Based on government rulings, it appears that the rest of the industry has been using HS 4407 to import unfinished fretboards since at least 1993. The date is probably earlier, because Gibson's own ruling on finished products is from 1990. Based on the luthiers' and guitar discussion boards on the internet, HS 4407 seems to be the accepted import code.
The government has not moved on other industry members - however, the government has also not moved on Gibson for using the HS 4407 code eleven times to import East Indian rosewood and ebony fretboards from August 2010 to June 2011. And remember that many of these makers are buying their wood from the people who import it, or are using a company to import it (like Luthier Mercantile).
The government has only expressed interested in two shipments:
(1) The shipment through Dallas, where Luthier Mercantile (a) changed the HS code from 9902 to 4408 (veneer), although LM is a fretboard expert a presumably uses 4407 routinely, and now wants to change it back to 9902; (b) listed Theodor Nagel GmbH of Germany as the final consignee, with directions to ship the wood to the Red Arrow Delivery Service warehouse in Nashville and to notify Herb Jenkins (the man who orders Gibson's Wood) upon delivery; (c) failed to submit a Lacey Act declaration; (d) after notification, submitted a pre-dated Lacey Act declaration listing Gibson as the final consignee; (e) had its general manager tell F&W that Gibson was the final consignee; (f) then, after the confiscation, try to change the final consignee back to Luthier Mercantile (the third, different consignee).
Mind you, Nagel is involved in the 2009 Madagascar ebony import and is likely a target of the criminal investigation, and LMI is owned by the same people.
As for the second shipment, LMI listed itself as the final consignee, but sent an email to Red Arrow Delivery Service stating that Gibson was the final consignee.
My guess is that clusterdance, and the fact that all of the parties involved were involved in the 2009 illegal import, is the reason for this confiscation. Both of these shipments technically created contraband under the Lacey Act because of mislabeling and stating an incorrect consignee.
I don't like it, but I think the government is bootstrapping its criminal investigation. And I still think that Theodor Nagel GmbH and its owners (and now their company, Luthier Mercantile) are primary targets.
My prediction is that within a week this civil forfeiture action will be stayed on the grounds that permitting it to continue, and permitting discovery and public disclosure of evidence in this case, will interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation and potential prosecution.
If Gibson and its executives are named, it's going to be as a result of the 2009 Madagascar ebony case - not these fingerboards. (Unless the government found some damning documents on Gibson's computers in this raid, as they did in 2009.) I expect Theodor Nagel GmbH and its principals to be named, and perhaps Hunter Trading Co. and Luthier Mercantile, both of which are owned by Nagel's principals. This last bit about East Indian fingerboards is a tiny, tiny tip of the iceberg.
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