[Nhcoll-l] international shipments being held up and extra fees

[Douglas Yanega]

On 10/25/21 10:01 AM, Amanda Bremner wrote:
> When I send out a package and fill out the FedEx waybill I always opt 
> to choose FedEx as the customs broker. I always include a clear 
> description of our shipment contents (including taxon names, 
> preservation method, weight, country of Origin, total declared value 
> of $20 CAD) and HS code 9705.00 (for botanical, zoological, 
> palaeontological collections).  I always include a boilerplate on the 
> outside of the package and a label for dangerous goods in excepted 
> quantities if the shipment contains 70% or 95% ethanol.  I always note 
> that it is a commercial shipment and use the commercial invoice 
> generated by FedEx.
>
There are two substantial differences between your protocol and what 
entomology museums like ours use for insect specimens:

(1) We always use regular postal delivery, and their standard postal 
Customs declaration.

(2) We always explicitly state the shipment has zero commercial value 
(and no declared value).

Otherwise we adhere to the protocol you give.

Our shipments are almost never held up, and if they are, it's almost 
always for a veterinary clearance. It could be a mix of those two 
factors that make things go more smoothly, hard to say whether just one 
of them alone makes all the difference.

Peace,

-- 
Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
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