[NHCOLL-L:5752] USFWS fees and licenses

[Bentley, Andrew Charles]

Hi all

It has recently come to our attention (through a single incident) that USFWS fees for inspections - that have been in force since January 8 2009 - are being enforced and there appears to be some confusion as to whether we are liable for these fees and under what circumstances.

In order to get to the bottom of this I contacted USFWS in Washington, DC as well as representatives from FedEx and UPS.

The information regarding these fees is contained in the table on pages 6 and 7 of the attached word document.  I have also highlighted pertinent sections of interest to our community.

The final ruling about these fees and licenses enacted on December 9, 2008 after public review (a process that museum representatives were either not invited to or failed to attend - as no exemption was requested) is contained in the attached pdf.  Again certain pertinent sections have been highlighted on page 74623 but there may be other sections of interest.

What I have been able to glean from the attached and in correspondence with USFWS is the following (some of which is already known):


1.     Museums are exempt from licensing requirements for importation and exportation of specimens.

2.     We are also exempt from base fees.

3.     Museums are not considered government/state agencies (even if you are!!) and thus are liable for PREMIUM fees.

4.     We are liable for PREMIUM inspection fees for all shipments sent by air, ocean, rail or truck cargo which includes courier services (FedEx, UPS, DHL) for the following instances:

a.     Non-designated port shipments.

b.    Overtime fees for inspectors - after normal work hours and over weekends.

c.     Any package containing protected species.

5.     We are exempt from PREMIUM inspection fees (except overtime fees) for any material sent by mail (USPS) or hand carried by passengers on planes or personal vehicles.  USFWS openly admitted that they do not inspect USPS packages.



In consultation with representatives of FedEx and UPS I have ascertained that there are USFWS representatives present at all shipment inspections leaving the country (they only use designated ports) and so we would never be charged non-designated port or overtime charges.  We will however be charged $74 for any package containing protected wildlife (due to increase to $93 next year).  This amount will be charged to the sender (along with package charges) and the package will not be held up - UNLESS charges have been specified to be charged to the recipient.  In these cases the $74 will need to be collected from the recipient before the package will be cleared by USFWS.  So, unless you check your FedEx bill carefully, there may have been instances where this PREMIUM inspection fee for protected species has been charged but you didn't know it!!



USWFS has indicated that there is no possibility of an exemption for museums at this point but the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) Legislation and Regulations Committee is proposing a roundtable workshop to which all relevant agencies will be invited to discuss this and many other permitting issues.  In order to ensure that all outstanding issues are addressed at such a workshop we would ask that anyone knowing of pervasive, problematic permitting issues such as this (national or international) please email myself or Sally Shelton (Sally.Shelton at sdsmt.edu<mailto:Sally.Shelton at sdsmt.edu>) with the details of the issue and relevant authorities who may need to be invited to resolve them.



Any questions/comments/corrections, let me know.  As always this is my interpretation...



This has been posted to NHCOLL-L, PERMIT-L and to the Natural History Collections Facebook page.  Some of these do not allow attachments and so if you don't see them but would be interested in getting them, please email me.



Thanks



Andy

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 Andy Bentley
 Ichthyology Collection Manager
 University of Kansas
 Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Institute
 Dyche Hall
 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
 Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
 USA

 Tel: (785) 864-3863
 Fax: (785) 864-5335
 Email: abentley at ku.edu<mailto:abentley at ku.edu>        :
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