[NHCOLL-L:4265] AMENDMENT Shipping Docs for Import of Natural History specimens to Europe

Thu Mar 26 11:34:00 EDT 2009

After first hand information of customs / FedEx from Frankfurt / Main 
Airport from today, I want to add few points to last weeks list of 
relevant issues for international shipping docs:

1. All paperwork needs to be packed *together* with the airwaybill *in 
one document pouch*. Any additional documentation packed in different 
pouches / attached to the shipment will not be considered as to contain 
relevant paperwork unless the *pouch is clearly marked* as containing 
extra docs necessary for import. Because many shipments are advised 
electronically, in most cases only the commercial invoice attached to 
the airwaybill is forwarded to the receiving gateway for customs 
clearance. The "country of origin" *must not be the country in which the 
specimens were originally collected*, but that country, from which the 
museums specimens were sent and to which they legally belong. (see below)

2. If possible, make sure that your local forwarder does not process 
shipments containing museum specimens on loan as *commercial goods* 
(which is the case in most shipments). There should be an explicit 
statement in your shipping docs, that the material packed is *on loan* 
to or is *returned from a loan* to the respective institution / museum. 
Please make sure, that a copy of the loan agreement is attached to your 
commercial invoice / your shipping docs on the outside of your parcel. 
This loan form should include the *inventory numbers*, so that the it is 
clear to customs, that the material included is *state property* and not 
of private or commercial nature.

3. In cases that your shipments are packed / processed by 
subcontractors, please make sure that your institutional address is 
clearly displayed as original shipper either in the shipping docs, or - 
even better - on the airwaybill.

4. Avoid "private shipments" by naming persons / individuals in the 
receiving address first. The first line in the address of the consignee 
has to give the name of the institute or museum. (This issue was 
explicitly stressed from customs authorities today !)

Germany is the main gateway entry for international shipments for the 
following carriers: UPS (Cologne), FedEx (Frankfurt/Main), DHL 
(Leipzig). With exception for the UK, most shipments addressed to 
European Institutions / Museums are handled in one of the three cities, 
which are in different federal states in Germany. Because of the federal 
legislation, it is extremely difficult (literally impossible) to have a 
common regulation for all arriving shipments containing scientific 
material, since not only different authorities (customs, vets, species 
protection) are involved, but also slightly different federal 
legislations in the single states. Bad news is that FedEx will move its 
international operation to Cologne next year, so everything achieved in 
Frankfurt has to be negotiated again in Cologne ...

Optimizing the shipping docs means minimize the problems, which has 
already led to the damage and loss of material, in the past. Therefore, 
I would like to ask you to forward this information to any persons / 
colleagues involved with shipping specimens in international airmail 
systems from and to Europe in order to reduce number of inspections / 
customs holds.

Thank you very much for your help,

Kind regards from Munich
Dirk Neumann

*****************

Dear all,
after recent (and repeated) problems last week with re-import of 
preserved fishes and DNA-tissues which have been on loan to the US and 
were returned from the States, few comments on the shipping docs which 
should be adhered to in order to minimize problems of import / re-import 
(especially FedEx entry to Europe via Frankfurt/Main airport):

1. Make sure that the shipping docs on the outside do include a copy of 
the original loan agreement form, not only a commercial invoice. In this 
loan agreement the "Latin" (scientific) species names need to be 
included or must be state elsewhere. In case of missing information, 
especially FedEx staff tends to convey shipments to customs for 
inspections in order to avoid any claims against FedEx for violating 
customs regularities for entry of shipments into the EU.

2. In the case that undetermined material is sent for identification (to 
/ from European museums), there should be a comment like "undetermined 
waterbeeetles, Familiy ABC, Genus XYZ (as detailed as possible for the 
undetermined specimens included); the statement "dried insects" is *NOT* 
sufficient for customs clearance and import and may lead to customs 
inspections which may cause damage of specimens due to untalented and 
unmotivated staff at the customs. Note that packages are normally cut 
from the bottom side, so there should be sufficient cushioning material 
in the bottom to prevent plastic bags or boxes containing specimens from 
being cut / damaged if packages are inspected.

3. For re-import of loaned material *FROM* European collections the 
origin in the commercial invoice *must not be the country where the 
specimens were originally collected*. In the actual case, paperwork was 
ok, but origin was two different African countries. The statements in 
the Commercial Invoice (if printed separately) are crucial, since most 
shipments are advised electronically rather then the shipping docs 
attached to the packages are check. This means that the data on the 
Commercial Invoice decides whether inspection is ordererd, or not. In 
customs terms, the country of Origin is the Collections from which the 
material was sent, e.g. the UK, Germany, etc. Re-import of animals / 
animal parts & samples originating from the EU are not under legislation 
for animal pest control and not subject to vet inspections. The same 
applies for loans to museums in the EU, in those cases the country of 
origin is the country in which the respective collection is based.

4. For vertebrates, there should be a passage in the shipping docs that 
e.g. the specimens where originally preserved in 4 % formalin solution 
at least for three days and therefore do not carry any potential animal 
diseases or pests. There have been reported cases where up to 80,- EUR 
(= 100 USD) were charged from the consignee for vet inspections because 
of insufficient shipping docs. All claims against these charges are 
fruitless in cases of wrong / insufficient import docs.

5. All packages to the EU must not be addressed to any person in the 
first line (scientist / technician, etc.), but to the Institute or 
Collection. All packages addressed otherwise are due to customs 
regulations regarded as "personnel shipments" with high risk of 
inspections. Any claims in cases of insufficient repacking or even 
damages against customs authorities are in vain if the package was 
addressed as a personnel shipment.

Please find below an template which may help ...

Kind regards
Dirk

*************

Address:

Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab
Muenchhausenstr. 21
81247 Munich (Germany)

Veterinarian statements:
This package contains dead preserved ... (freshwater fishes) for 
scientific research, which were originally preserved in 4 % formalin 
solution for at least one week
and then transferred into 75 % denatured Ethanol for further 
preservation; these specimens are not infectious due to the original 
preservation technique.

Protection of species:
The package contains no endangered species (for Latin species names 
please refer to included loan agreement).

Country of Origin:
The specimens packed are on loan for zoological (morphological) research 
and legally belong to the State of Bavaria (Country of Origin: Germany); 
no commercial value, not for resale.

Commercial value for customs purposes:
Commercial value of the used cheesecloth and plastic bags: 5.00 EUR

HAZMAT / IATA :
Preserved fishes are single packed with absorbent (Vermiculite ^(TM)) 
and sealed in PE plastic bags / containers. For transportation specimens 
are wrapped in cloth soaked with 70 % Ethanol;
amount of free liquid Ethanol per inner packing < 30 ml. Dangerous Goods 
in excepted quantities in compliance with IATA DGR Regulations (50^th 
Ed. / 2009): class 3, ID 3274 / UN 1987, packing group II.

-- 
Dirk Neumann

Tel: 089 / 8107-111
Fax: 089 / 8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de

Postanschrift:

Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Labor
Münchhausenstr. 21
81247 München

Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/

---------

Dirk Neumann

Tel: +49-89-8107-111
Fax: +49-89-8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de

postal address:

Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab
Muenchhausenstr. 21
81247 Munich (Germany)

Visit our section at:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/