Verify the CITES musical-instrument certificate's adoption date and operating terms against a CITES primary
The question
Do the CITES musical-instrument certificate's operating specifics — adopted at CoP16, Bangkok, 13 March 2013; valid three years; non-transferable; non-commercial personal use only — hold up against CITES's own record, rather than a trade-press retelling?
Why it matters
These are quantitative/mechanism claims (a specific adoption date and a specific validity period) that under the vault's sourcing floor require Tier 1–2 grounding. As captured they rest only on a Tier-3 source (Fretboard Journal), which attributes the adoption detail to USFWS's Tim Van Norman. Until verified, they are flagged [unverified-quant] in claim-cites-musical-instrument-passport-certificate, which cannot advance past seedling while the flag stands.
What I'd need to answer it
- CITES Resolution Conf. 16.8 (the resolution establishing the musical-instrument certificate), and the CoP16 (Bangkok, 2013) meeting record on cites.org — for the adoption date and the certificate's stated terms.
- The USFWS musical-instrument certificate application/guidance page — for validity period, transferability, and the non-commercial-use restriction as stated by the issuing authority.
Candidate next moves
Pull Resolution Conf. 16.8 text directly; cross-check the three-year validity and non-transferability against the USFWS certificate instructions. Confirm whether "13 March 2013" is the CoP16 adoption date or a downstream US implementation date.
Progress, 2026-07-30 (partial — left open)
Resolution Conf. 16.8 (Rev. CoP17) was read directly (Wayback mirror of cites.org, which 403s direct fetch). Three of four operating specifics are now Tier-1 confirmed against the primary text: three-year validity (claim-cites-resolution-16-8-sets-three-year-musical-instrument-certificate-validity), the "passport" framing as the resolution's own language (claim-cites-resolution-16-8-frames-certificate-as-passport), and non-transferability, which is geography-bound rather than absolute (claim-cites-musical-instrument-certificate-non-transferability-is-geography-bound). CoP16's Bangkok/3-14 March 2013 dates are Tier-1 confirmed via the CoP16 plenary record, but the specific adoption day "13 March 2013" and whether the original 2013 text differs from the Rev. CoP17 text now in force were not located this session — see claim-cites-musical-instrument-certificate-cop16-origin-confirmed-exact-day-unverified. CoP16 Doc. 40 (Rev. 1), the likely working document naming the exact adoption session, 403'd with no Wayback snapshot found. Status stays open, narrowed to that single remaining day-level question.