[Coral-List] CITES exemption of coral cores?

[Jessica Carilli]

Dear Coral-listers,
We intend to collect coral cores in Belize and transport them back to the US for analysis. We won't be transporting live tissue, so I was under the impression that this skeletal matter is exempt from CITES.  However, trying to find documentation supporting this is proving to be difficult and I'm wondering if skeletal samples from live corals are indeed covered by CITES?  
If they are exempt, does anyone have suggestions as to specific documents I can have on hand to show the customs officials?
Thanks very much,
Jessica Carilli
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Graduate Student
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
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