[NHCOLL-L:2658] USFWS and 3-177 forms

[James B. Ladonski]

Hi everyone,

The recent comments on hazmat shipping led me to an off-list discussion 
regarding the US Fish and Wildlife Service's regulations.  Specifically, 
the topic was the enforcement policies of individual inspectors and offices 
with respect to the 3-177 form (used to declare imports and exports for 
wildlife, for those outside the US).  We file most of our 3-177s 
electronically now ("eDecs"), and we've had several instances recently 
where inspectors at our local office (Chicago) required us to bring the 
packages to their office for physical inspection before they will clear the 
3-177.  These cases all involved ethanol-preserved specimens, so those of 
you familiar with such things can imagine the headache of transporting all 
your loan-packing equipment (heat sealer, bags, ethanol, cheesecloth, 
labels, peanuts, boxes, etc.) off-site in order to ship your specimens.  In 
fact, this is what led to our discovery that FedEx will not ship dead 
animals - we had to call to schedule a pickup because the boxes were being 
sent from the USFWS office, not from the Museum.

I'm curious to know what experiences others have had, either with USFWS in 
general or with 3-177s in particular.  It seems most people who work with 
zoology collections in the US have had run-ins with inspectors at some 
point, but I'm wondering if this is getting more common.  Feel free to 
contact me off-list with comments, if you'd prefer.

Thanks,

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_amphibians.htm