Shipping Musical Instruments from India

Rosewood is not the problem it used to be

All Dalbergia rosewoods, Indian rosewood and sheesham included, are listed in CITES Appendix II. Since the 2019 CITES conference, though, the listing exempts finished musical instruments, finished parts and finished accessories, and the December 2025 conference left that exemption in place. So a finished sitar, veena or tanpura with rosewood in it does not need a CITES permit on that account.

Skin heads, ivory and bone

• Tabla, mridangam, chenda and other skin-headed drums. Australia names rawhide drums among goods of concern and asks you to check its import conditions; expect a declaration and possibly an inspection. New Zealand asks for animal products to be declared.
• Ivory. The USA admits ivory in instruments only in narrow cases with a CITES document. Avoid it.
• Bone or horn inlay. Declare it. Rules differ by country.

Packing so it arrives in tune

1. Loosen the strings on sitars, veenas, tanpuras and violins, so the neck is not under tension in a cold hold.
2. Use a hard case, or a crate for a large instrument. Courier guidance is not to send a stringed instrument without one.
3. Wrap the case and fill every gap so nothing moves; DHL suggests about 6 cm of padding between the case and the outer crate.
4. Pad the neck and the gourd or resonator separately. These are where breakage happens.
5. Harmoniums: close the bellows, wrap the keys, and treat it as fragile on every side.

We pack fragile items to travel, and there is no size or weight limit of our own; a crated veena goes as a courier parcel like anything else. We do not sell shipping insurance, so packing well matters more than usual.

Notes by country

• Malaysia. Families whose children learn Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music or the veena in Kuala Lumpur and Penang buy instruments from Chennai, Thanjavur and Kolkata makers at Indian prices. Parcels up to RM500 arriving by air courier are free of import duty; registered online sellers charge a 10% low-value goods tax at checkout. Above RM500, import duty and sales tax apply.
• UAE. Tablas, harmoniums and veenas for students in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, and Kerala to the Gulf is our fastest route. Personal parcels valued up to AED 1,000 are generally duty-free. Above that, customs duty is typically 5% of the value including shipping, and 5% VAT applies.
• Singapore. Indian classical music and dance schools are well established, and instruments from India cost far less than locally. GST applies to imported goods, including low-value parcels. Declare contents accurately; one consolidated box is simpler to declare than several small ones.
• New Zealand. Declare skin-headed drums and wooden parts; biosecurity inspects wood, cane and animal products. Up to NZ$1,000, Customs collects no duty and overseas sellers may charge 15% GST at checkout; since 1 April 2026 a small levy applies per parcel. Above NZ$1,000, Customs collects duty, GST and an entry charge.
• USA. A finished rosewood instrument needs no CITES permit for the rosewood; ivory is the one to avoid. There is no duty-free allowance for parcels from India: the USD 800 exemption was suspended in August 2025, and since 24 July 2026 Indian goods also carry an extra 10% duty on top of the normal rate. The courier collects it before delivery.

What it costs

Instruments are light for their size, so they are usually priced on volume rather than weight. A sitar in a hard case is a large box. Check the calculator with the case dimensions before you buy.