Musicians are passionately bound to their instruments. The prospect that they could lose them at a border check if they can’t document the origin of every component made from a type of wood that is protected by any law, anywhere in the world is understandably terrifying. But is the fear justified?

“I’d like to say no, but this is a fluid area where very little can be taken for granted,” says Gregory Linsin, a partner at Blank Rome and a former U.S. Justice Department environmental lawyer.