Piano Crating and CITES

Piano Crating

For a long-distance move, a relocation or any international shipment, your piano needs more than blankets and straps. We build a custom-made, cardboard-reinforced crate around the instrument so it can be handled, stacked and shipped by a freight company without anything ever touching the piano itself.

Every crate is built to the piano. Grands are disassembled first, with the legs, lyre and lid packed and braced inside; uprights are crated whole. We can collect the piano, crate it at our workshop and hand it over to your shipping or relocation company, and we work with most of the major logistics providers.

Why does my piano need CITES certification?

When exporting a piano overseas you are required to produce a certificate to confirm the presence of ivory keys on your piano. Most pianos after the 1950s no longer have ivory keys and use plastic or composite material, but it is a requirement that this is verified by a reputable institution and a certificate is provided. Should you not have a CITES certificate, it can result in the entire shipment being blocked from exiting or entering the destination country.

We can assist you with your application to export your piano.

My piano has ivory – You will need to obtain an export permit from the Nature Conservation office through an application process. This requires you to submit documentation and forms to the department, as well as having the piano physically inspected to confirm the existence of ivory. This can take anything from 2 weeks to a month to obtain. We can assist you with this process and have experience dealing with the department and knowledge of what is needed. Let us take this stress from you and handle the entire process. We work with most of the logistics companies and can work behind the scenes to ensure all is in order.

My piano does not have ivory – Should your piano not have ivory keys but is being exported, it is important to note that you will still need a certificate from an industry expert to confirm there is no ivory on the piano. We provide a certificate confirming this information - contact us to find out more.

I don’t know if it is ivory or not – No problem, we are here to help. Contact us and we will verify the existence of ivory on your piano!

Regardless of your needs, it is highly vital that we start the process as soon as possible, as there are documents to obtain and many role players involved in getting the required permit.

Take note that a CITES certificate is only valid for a maximum of six (6) months.