[NHCOLL-L:2657] Re: IATA and China
Gregory Watkins-Colwell
gregory.watkins-colwell at yale.edu
Tue May 17 09:03:58 EDT 2005
Carla,
Yes. I do have to indicate the contents when I do a FedEx shipment
online. I call them "preserved biological materials for research". I was
told once... hmm... I think by a FedEx person... that "specimen" scares
people. Especially now-a-days people think of "specimen" as something with
a disease.
I am wondering if it would help at all to change the word "research" to the
word "study". semantics is interesting! On the other hand, I also wonder
if we are doing our own fields of science a dis-service by rewording things
in a way that causes fewer ripples. I mean, these are specimens and they
are for research. This is what we do. This is what we are. Grammatical
and syntax camouflage should not be necessary. We are not the bad
guys. The bad guys are the ones that phrase things in a way to hide them
(which, if deemed false, could be considered an act of smuggling). But
then, they are not using a thesaurus to get other words that mean the same
thing. They are doing stuff like, calling a crocodile handbag a baby doll
or something so it flags no inspection.
I did notice once when we had an expedition entering the U.S. from a field
site that materials that were preserved, as opposed to frozen, raised fewer
flags. The concern being that a frozen tissue sample may still have viable
viral DNA and other fun things in it. But the same tissue in some sort of
preservative wouldn't. I suspect that this isn't entirely true and that
some viruses could survive some types of preservation (buffers for
example). But I do know that USDA looked at the frozen materials longer
and harder than the stuff in alcohol.
Greg
At 03:31 PM 5/16/2005 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi Jamie,
>
>I just had the same experience with FedEx. We use FedEx routinely to send
>scientific specimens, and in this particular case I sent one to Canada and
>one to Sweden (both picked up on the same day, different parts of the same
>hummingbird, both labeled the same). The one to Sweden went fine. The one
>to Canada got stopped (2 different attempts) because of I too was told
>that they don't ship dead animals, although they will ship animal parts! I
>explained that this was an animal part, and a scientific specimen, etc.
>etc., but still they refused. So it came back. Then I talked to someone
>else who said it shouldn't have been rejected, and to send it again, but
>labeled "Biospecimens for research" (before it was labeled "scientific
>specimens for research"). I did that and sent it again, and it was
>rejected again for the same reason. I finally talked to the person who
>handles international shipments (she was gone and someone else was dealing
>with this), and she said that it was fine to ship.
>
>So it really depends on who you talk to, and who is sorting through the
>packages at the FedEx facility.
>
>Greg, using the online service doesn't preclude having to fill out a
>waybill, right? So don't you still need to describe the contents?
>
>Best,
>Carla
>
>
>At 11:30 AM 5/11/2005 -0400, you wrote:
>>I use the online service from FedEx so that I don't have to continually
>>explain what it is in the box and/or WHY I am doing this. Plus it seems
>>a sad case when I have to explain the regulations to the person on the phone.
>>
>>Of course, the online form doesn't tell me if Today country X is
>>accepting hazardous materials or not. But it also doesn't panic about
>>the notion of a dead snake in a box.
>>
>>Greg
>>
>>
>>At 08:54 AM 5/11/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>>>Thanks Greg,
>>>
>>>This is interesting, as it seems like dealing with these couriers is
>>>always a case of luck. Meaning, the answers you get depend on who you
>>>talk to. In the case of the package our Fishes staff sent to Brazil,
>>>our collection manager spoke with several people at DHL, at several
>>>different management levels, receiving assurances that she had packed
>>>and labelled everything correctly. All this just to have the package
>>>stopped halfway to its destination and returned because it turns out it
>>>wasn't acceptable after all.
>>>
>>>My favorite personal experience dealing with the couriers' happened a
>>>few months ago when I called FedEx to schedule pickup of a couple
>>>packages, one to Japan and one to France. The customer service rep said
>>>they could not accept the packages since they contain "dead animals". I
>>>even talked to a person in their legal department and pleaded and tried
>>>to argue the case that these are biological specimens, they are for
>>>scientific research, etc., etc., but I was unsuccessful. The fact that
>>>they were hazmat was not the issue. This all came up because the
>>>service rep asked me what was in the package, and I said "museum
>>>specimens for scientific research". She needed more detailed info, and
>>>so I told her "preserved reptiles". She then said, "oh, I don't think
>>>we can ship that" and I was on and off hold for several minutes while
>>>she tried to get an answer. Eventually I talked to a paralegal who put
>>>me on hold while she spoke to one of the lawyers, so this did come from
>>>a position of some authority within FedEx.
>>>
>>>There is a prohibition on FedEx's web site against sending dead animals
>>>- click on "Terms and Conditions" on the right side of this page: (
>>>http://www.fedex.com/us/services/intl/priority.html?link=4 ). This
>>>opens a JavaScript window - look at #30, "Prohibited Items". Number 20
>>>under that section is what they are basing this on, I suppose. Sorry
>>>insect folks - you are singled out!
>>>
>>>Now, I realize many of you use FedEx for shipping hazmat (and
>>>non-hazmat) specimens everyday without incident. But my point is
>>>simply, beware! You may find yourself being told the same thing.
>>>
>>>Jamie
>>
>>**********************************************
>>
>>Carla Cicero, Ph.D
>>Curator and Researcher
>>Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
>>3101 Valley Life Sciences Building
>>University of California
>>Berkeley, CA 94720-3160
>>PH: 510-642-7868
>>FAX: 510-643-8238
>>email: ccicero at berkeley.edu
>>http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~ccicero/
>>http://mvz.berkeley.edu/
>>http://ornisnet.org/
>
>******************************************************
>* Gregory J. Watkins-Colwell *
>* Herpetology and Ichthyology *
>* Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History *
>* 170 Whitney Avenue, P. O. Box 208118 *
>* New Haven, CT 06520-8118 *
>* Phone: 203/432-3791 *
>* FAX: 203/432-2874 *
>* http://www.peabody.yale.edu *
>******************************************************
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