A recent experience with the Ebay Global Shipping programme regarding CITES:
A few months ago, I bought a bass on Ebay from a seller in the States. It was advertised under the Ebay Global Shipping Programme, meaning you pay all shipping and import costs upfront.
Because the bass had a rosewood fingerboard, I got in touch with the UK CITES Management Authority in Bristol prior to shipping. They explained that the seller has to apply for an export permit first, then mail me a copy so I can apply for the import permit over here. I passed the info on to the seller and advised he should get in touch with the people of the Ebay Global Shipping Programme for guidance, thinking they would deal with this kind of stuff all the time.
The seller said he did and apparently they told him they would take care of everything. He shipped the bass via USPS, it was quite slow, took almost three weeks to arrive. There was no CITES documentation/paperwork at all with the package.
Make of that what you will. I haven't looked into it further but should I still apply for the relevant import certificate in retrospect?