No country has a monopoly on this kind of nonsense. The following happened while crossing the border between Alberta Canada and Montana USA.

Excerpted from: Edmonton Journal 2007-03-23

The Pipe and Drum Band of the Edmonton Police Service was forced to leave behind two sets of bagpipes at the Sweetgrass border checkpoint because the instruments are made in part from
elephant ivory.

That was a problem since one set belongs to James McKee, who is the band's pipe major
and acts as the conductor.

The band spent nearly three hours March 15 trying to cut through red tape at the border, north of Great Falls, before opting to leave the bagpipes behind with Canadian customs.

U.S. Senator Max Baucus was asked for help bringing the bagpipes to Butte before the
St. Patrick's Day parade March 17.

Baucus's office contacted the highway patrol and a trooper went to the border for the pipes, which were taken to Great Falls. Employees from Baucus's Helena office picked up the instruments and took them to Butte by 6:30 p.m. March 16.

"Max wasn't about to let a little international red tape get in the way
of St. Patrick's Day in Butte," said Baucus spokesman, Barrett Kaiser.

The Edmonton pipers, who had borrowed bagpipes from the Shining Thistle Pipe Band
in Helena, were elated when their two sets of pipes arrived, McKee said.

"I was very impressed," he said.
"They did a lot of work behind the scenes. We really appreciate what they did."

The pipers had a separate incident with a wildlife inspector while crossing the border
in July and were told they needed documents detailing the history of the instruments.

They acquired letters from an anthropologist stating their instruments were antiques
made before laws required permits for the ivory.

Although Canadian authorities recently said McKee and piper Ted Soltys had compiled
the proper documents, the wildlife inspector still requested more paperwork when
the band returned for St. Patrick's Day.

McKee said the band is reviewing the issue and plans to have the appropriate permits
before returning to Montana in July.

"There's no hard feelings," he said. "It's just an inconvenience."

The pipers have been going to Butte's celebrations for 24 years and last July was the
first time they have had problems at the border, the band said.