[Nhcoll-l] USFWS seizure of imports

[Tom Schiøtte]

Does the below conversation indicate that it has become perilous to send loans of specimens to the US, unless you are very well versed in US import regulations?

Sincerely

Tom

Tom Schiøtte

Collection manager, Echinodermata & Mollusca
Natural History Museum of Denmark (Zoology)
Universitetsparken 15
DK 2100 Copenhagen OE

+45 35 32 10 48
TSchioette at snm.ku.dk<mailto:TSchioette at snm.ku.dk>



From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Eli Wyman
Sent: 21. april 2025 23:14
To: Chris Grinter <cgrinter at calacademy.org>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] USFWS seizure of imports


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Hi Chris et al,

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. It would be nice if anyone employed at USFWS would chime in on this (I have to assume there's some in this group). As you are well aware it is very common for major collections to receive loan returns etc from abroad without being informed first and there is no way to know when that will happen. Hence why it has always been possible to file 3-177s after the fact.

  Has this only happened to you in this one instance? Has anyone else experienced similar situations recently? I would particularly be interested to hear of any recent experiences with hand carry events (good or bad) in recent months since our lab does this frequently, and while we always file a 3-177 they are typically not cleared by the time of the hand-carry event just because the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly.

Thanks in advance,
Eli Wyman
Kocher Lab
Princeton University


On Mon, Apr 21, 2025 at 4:54 PM Chris Grinter <cgrinter at calacademy.org<mailto:cgrinter at calacademy.org>> wrote:
Hi all,
I want to give everyone a warning that the NY USFWS office has been seizing packages that do not contain pre-cleared 3-177 documents. I've just received an official notice of seizure for a loan that came back from China (via NY for some reason). The package was clearly labeled with a declaration of specimens, loan for systematic research, etc—however the agents at JFK seized the material as a violation of the Lacey Act, failure to mark appropriately (lacking 3-177 is how I interpret this), and failure to obtain clearance. The package was intercepted in September 2024 and I got notice today. No one at the NY office will pick up the phone or return my messages.

If you're receiving material from anywhere abroad it's critical to get a pre-cleared 3-177 and keep a close eye on the tracking number. Unfortunately if a package is seized by USFWS there is no update posted to USPS, it just shows as "in transit".

Chris

Christopher C. Grinter
Senior Collection Manager of Entomology
Secretary, The Lepidopterists’ Society
Subject Editor: Lepidoptera, The Pacific Coast Entomological Society
California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Dr
San Francisco, CA 94118
T 415.379.5320
We regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.
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