[Nhcoll-l] Filing post-import 3-177s for specimens for taxonomic & systematic research

[Benjamin Hess]

Trina,

I regularly talk with ALL agencies about the importation of biological
material. There has been a recent shift with how imports are monitored, and
now with US Customs and Border Protection Biological Agents at most main
ports of entry, this has required more communication in advance.

The USFWS requires advance notice 48-72 hours before the entry of
biological material that they regulate. For newly collected material,
communication with the USFWS designated port has led to the *USFWS 3-177
being requested in advance*. With few exceptions, you must have a 3-177 in
hand if you hand-carry material. If you are shipping material, there is
sometimes leniency with vendors like UPS, FedEx, DHL. Otherwise, the
current expectation is that you have at the minimum a PENDING 3-177 with
your documentation. YES, the Code of Federal Regulations states this must
be done within 180 days, *but the expectation is that it is done in advance
now.* We have simply shifted our way of thinking - the CFR will most likely
not change but the expectation by the USFWS has changed.

I am happy to talk with you more about this to answer any questions, or to
help.

Sincerely,

Ben


On Fri, Feb 17, 2023 at 3:52 PM Trina Roberts <troberts at nhm.org> wrote:

> Hi colleagues,
>
> We are experiencing some misunderstandings with the local USFWS inspection
> office about what we do and don't need to do for imports of dried/preserved
> specimens for taxonomic/systematic research.  These are not anything that
> would require CITES, ESA, MBTA, MMPA, or other special permitting.  They
> are not imports from new field work, but specimens from existing
> collections being loaned to us or being returned to us after a loan.
>
> My interpretation of the situation and our responsibility is:
> - The specimens are for taxonomic/systematic research because they are
> being used in studies that will do such things as naming species and
> determining evolutionary relationships among species and higher taxa,
> regardless of whether the identity of these specimens is unknown or what we
> currently know of their taxonomy.
> - We *do not* have to file a 3-177 and have the shipment cleared
> before/upon import, because 50 CFR §14.55 (d) says that clearance is not
> required for such shipments, and 50 CFR §14.62 (d) says we do not have to
> file a declaration at the time of importation.
> - But we *do* have to file a 3-177 within 180 days after the import,
> because 50 CFR §14.62 (d) says we must do so "with the appropriate
> Assistant Regional Director - Law Enforcement"
>
> USFWS's current interpretation is:
> - The specimens cannot be for taxonomic/systematic research because they
> have already been identified to genus, and therefore we know what they
> are.  The exception for taxonomic/systematic research only holds if the
> specimens in the shipment are unidentified.  We have managed to talk
> them into accepting that individual shipments are for taxonomic research
> after a rejection, but with no evidence that they have changed their
> overall interpretation.
> - Therefore we need to file a 3-177 and have the shipment cleared before
> import.
> - There is no difference between clearance and declaration.  There is no
> situation when we would be exempt from clearance at import and still need
> to file a declaration later.  We either need to file before import if a
> 3-177 is needed, or not file at all if it isn't.
>
> The result of this is that if we DO file a 3-177 after import, it gets
> rejected and found in violation of the clearance requirement.  If we DON'T
> file at all, obviously USFWS can't reject the 3-177 but I think we are in
> violation of the declaration requirement.
>
> I would love to hear from the community whether you agree that a 3-177 is
> needed for this kind of import, and whether any of you are in fact using
> these exceptions to file yours post-import, something that in my experience
> is or at least used to be common for museums.  And, critically: if you are
> doing that successfully, exactly how does the process go?  Are you filing
> in eDecs?  Is there some magical way you are filling in the fields that
> tells your local inspectors that this is an import declaration but the
> shipment is exempt from clearance?  Are your local inspectors interpreting
> "taxonomic or systematic research" more broadly than ours, and what are you
> putting on your forms that makes it clear to them that that category
> applies?  Are you filing in some way that sends the form not to front-line
> inspectors whose job it is to clear shipments, but to someone else?  Do
> they approve your eDecs, and if they do do they mark them as "cleared" even
> if the import is in the past, or is there some other category they apply?
>
> The local office here is horrendously understaffed and overworked, with a
> huge amount of commercial wildlife traffic coming through LAX and the port;
> what we do is a tiny corner of what they're responsible for monitoring.
> I'm not surprised that misunderstandings occur, just looking for examples
> of how this is working better for other institutions with the hope of
> fixing this before it gets more combative.
>
> Thanks for any clever solutions!  I'm happy to talk more about this
> one-on-one if that's helpful to anyone or if you need more details (or if
> you don't want to commit your thoughts to writing).
>
> --Trina
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Trina E. Roberts, Ph.D.
> Associate VP, Collections
> Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County
> 213-763-3330
> troberts at nhm.org
> she, her, hers
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-- 

*Benjamin M. Hess | EEB Museums Registrar | **EEB Museums Safety
Representative to the RMC *

University of Michigan | LSA Ecology & Evolutionary Biology | Research
Museums Center

3600 Varsity Drive, Ann Arbor MI 48108-2228

bmhess at umich.edu | 734-764-2432
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