[NHCOLL-L:2317] RE: shipping methods for specimens

[Schneider, Gregory]

I found that international shipments sent by USPS are not traceable once
they leave the US and can only be accounted for once they are signed for
at the final destination.  A package that I sent to Torino, Italy last
November sat in Italian Customs for three months because they were
expecting a duty to be paid and did not contact the addressee to come
and clear it.

I checked out the legalities of sending preserved "animals" and
"tissues" packed in small quantities of "ethanol" with our DHL
representative, John McGill (248 670 0521).  He investigated and found
that this is legal and permissible by DHL.  There is a little more
paperwork that accompanies the shipment (compared to the USPS) including
a Commercial Invoice, Shipper's Exportation Declaration (SED), MSDS for
ethanol, copies of our CITES COSE permit, copies of our USFW 3177
Declarations, and a DHL Airway Bill.  But the service is MUCH BETTER and
safer and the rates are comparable.  (The U of M is getting an excellent
rate from DHL which is often lower than the USPS.)

(I have .pdf files of all of these shipping documents which I can share
with anyone who wishes to modify them for their use.)

Greg Schneider
Division of Reptiles and Amphibians
Museum of Zoology
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079

734 764 0466      734 763 4080 (FAX)
ges at umich.edu 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of James B. Ladonski
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 12:18 PM
To: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:2309] shipping methods for specimens

Hi all,

Building on Greg's question last week regarding alcohol shipments, who
is 
your preferred courier for 1) domestic and 2) international loan 
shipments?  We (Amphibians and Reptiles at the Field Museum) have used
UPS 
for domestic and USPS air mail for international for several years now,
but 
we've had problems with air mail in the last year or so (packages
literally 
taking months to reach even major cities like Paris).  Given this
problem, 
we'd like to be able to track our packages (not possible with regular
USPS 
air mail).  Our only viable options appear to be 1) use a private
courier 
like UPS, FedEx, or DHL; or 2) use USPS air mail and insure the shipment

for a nominal value.  Option 1 is very costly, so much so that we cannot

use it except in very special circumstances.  That leaves us with Option
2, 
but we are concerned that insuring the shipment will require the
recipient 
to pay a duty to collect the package from their post office.  What is
your 
experience with this, both personally and from what you know of policies
in 
other countries?

Thanks for any advice you can offer,

Jamie



Mr. James B. Ladonski
Collection Assistant
Division of Amphibians and Reptiles
The Field Museum
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL  60605-2496  USA
phone:  (312) 665-7722
fax:  (312) 665-7697
email:  jladonski at fieldmuseum.org
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/zoology/divisions_amphib
ians.htm