[Nhcoll-l] Exporting ESA, CITES, MMPA materials

Sat May 17 11:36:41 EDT 2014

Hi All,

I am not familiar with all of the regulations surrounding wildlife exports, but I do have something to say about the inspection facility in Memphis.  We are having repeated problems with the FedEx facility in Memphis.  Customs and Border Patrol is routinely refusing entry to shipments of herbarium specimens that have the necessary permits.  WHen these shipments are refused, we get a call from a woman named Ramona at FedEx.  She never tells us what is wrong with the shipment and never returns phone calls when we try to ascertain what the problem is.  FedEx has told us that they would hold shipments for 5 days in order for us to get things straightened out, and then 2 days later they send the shipment back.

In speaking with our local USDA officials here in San Francisco, they have indicated that this facility in Memphis is a well known and ongoing problem.  They get complaints about it all of the time.  For herbarium specimens there are actually only a limited number of species for which permits are needed at all, but this facility treats all plant shipments as if they were regulated.  Even the USDA training manual instructs these inspectors to clear herbarium specimens unless they contain Federal Noxious Weeds, but the Customs people are not following USDA's manuals.

This is just a heads-up.  The regulations surrounding plant imports and exports are much less well understood by both the herbarium community and the people doing the inspections than are issues surrounding wildlife regulations, so you all may not have the same problems.  But is does seem that this Memphis facility is the crux of the problem, at least according to our USDA contacts!

Regards,

Debra Trock, Senior Collections Mgr. Botany

California Academy of Sciences

San Francisco, CA  94118

________________________________
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] on behalf of Ellen Paul [ellen.paul at verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2014 11:44 AM
To: Mammalian Biology
Cc: NHCOLL-new; Bulletin Board for Bird Collections and Curators
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Exporting ESA, CITES, MMPA materials

The USFWS Division of Law Enforcement recently sent out a memo about how to do exports through Memphis. Sorry but the lists don't permit attachments so a number of people wrote to ask me for copies. Easier to do it this way....apologies for the duplicate notice.

This is primarily of interest to those who are exporting materials that require permits (ESA, CITES, MMPA, etc.) because those shipments must go through a designated wildlife port. If your institution is not near a designated wildlife port, that means you have to ship the package, unsealed but otherwise ready to ship, inside a second, outer box, with all the paperwork, to the USFWS at a designated wildlife port. They will then clear the shipment and (at their option), inspect the contents, then seal the box and send it on to its destination.
At least that's the way it is supposed to work. We periodically hear that one port or another hasn't had adequate training or instruction and will refuse to do this. Should that occur, please feel free to notify me and I'll contact the USFWS Law Enforcement HQ, who will then contact the port and get it sorted out.

And, of course, all wildlife shipments require a 3-177, even if no permit is required.

However, the other alternative is to send it through Memphis, particularly if you are using FedEx anyway, as directed in the memo. It requires that you use e-decs, though I suspect you could also use a paper 3-177 if you wanted to. I will inquire about that.

The full text is pasted in here:

1. File electronic declaration with all the required information and documents uploaded to the edec.

2. Retain the shipment at your facility. Do not send the shipment until you receive a cleared or rejected notification from our office via the edec system. It must be made available for physical inspection if requested by our office.

3. Wildlife Inspectors will review the edec.

4. If you receive a cleared notification you can send the shipment directly to its destination.

5. If you receive a rejected notification with these comments "Rejected for physical inspection, send shipment to Memphis Port Office 3150 Tchulahoma Rd. Ste. 6, Memphis, TN 38118,” send the shipment to Memphis for inspection. Provide the shipping labels from you to final destination for us to affix to the box after inspection and clearance.

6. If you receive a rejected notification for any other reason besides physical inspection, review and amend as needed. Resubmit when amended and upload documents again.

7. Fees may be paid by check to the Port Office or via the edec system.

NOTES:  All shipments requiring permits (CITES, MBTA, ESA, etc.) will require physical inspection and can be sent to the office upon filing an edec.

If you have any questions or concerns with this procedure please feel free to contact our office at (901) 544-3694.

Barry Davis
Supervisory Wildlife Inspector
Memphis, TN

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

FYI, many museums and universities have noted that they are not receiving stamped copies of the 3-177 when they receive the shipments, even though they were routed through Memphis or another designated wildlife port. The USFWS Manual<http://www.fws.gov/policy/443fw1.html#sec19> calls for a copy to be returned to the filer. We always tell people to put a second copy of the 3-177 in the documents envelope so it can be stamped and returned to the package. It is my understanding, however, that the port inspectors don't actually see and handle many of the packages.
I have been told that they review an "electronic portfolio" of paperwork sent by FedEx from the port where the shipment originated and they then decide which packages they want to see and physically inspect. The rest are simply cleared on the paperwork (which is why FedEx is filing "3-177s" even if you attached one to the box) and FedEx can then send them on to you.

We do encourage the use of e-decs, but e-decs are port-specific, and when something is shipped via FedEx, the importer has no way of knowing how the package will be routed and where it will clear, so e-decs is not really a solution. I'm not sure what the solution is to this problem. I've asked Mr. Davis to address the problem.

Ellen Paul

Ellen Paul
Executive Director
The Ornithological Council
Email: ellen.paul at verizon.net<mailto:ellen.paul at verizon.net>
Phone (301) 986 8568
"Providing Scientific Information about Birds"
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET"<http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET>

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