Clearing trophies thru Customs yourself

17 April 2008, 21:20

I just cleared 2 shoulder mounts and a European mount through customs myself. It took me a total of 35 minutes to do it. The total cost of getting it done was nothing.

I'm not recommending that everyone do it themselves because some people do not have the patience for it, or they do not understand the paper process, or they just want someone else to do it for them. There are many customs import brokers that will do an excellent job doing all that is required to get you and your trophies connected and you should consider what they have to offer also.

For those of you who have the time to go through the process with Customs, Fish and Wildlife, USDA, the air cargo company, etc. then you might consider doing it yourself. Also the money that you save ($400 to $1500) by doing yourself can go toward a new scope or toward your next safari.

Namibiahunter

18 April 2008, 02:45

geoff

Getting a customs broker makes a lot of sense if the port of entry into the U.S. is far from your residence. They will clear it and forward the trophies to you.

My leopard and other plains game mounts just arrived in Honolulu yesterday. I have an appointment with the U.S. FWS tomorrow morning to present the CITES import permit for the cat. I had requested that the freight forwarding agent in Namibia send the trophies to me in Honolulu, rather than the normal routing to the West Coast as there is an USFWS office here only 15 min. away near the airport.

Had it gone to the West Coast, I would have had to engage a customs broker and given power of attorney to present the CITES import permit. Hopefully, all will go well and I can bail the cat out.

Geoff

18 April 2008, 03:05

Hutty

I agree that if you are close to an airport it is well worth it. I have cleared my last three shipments myself from SA(one even had a baboon skull).

All three times it has been relatively painless taking an hour at the most and the cost was free. On my last two shipments I also split the crate with one of my buddies that I hunted with, which made the shipping costs even cheaper.

The danger of civilization, of course, is that you will piss away your life on nonsense

18 April 2008, 06:46

L. David Keith

A local guy thought he would clear his own trophies that included a Leopard with an expired permit. All were raw salted skins mind you. Customs seized them in Atlanta and they are threatening to destroy all of it. Same guy got in a bind once and was told his 7 trophies were going to cost him $5,600 to ship. He called John Meehan of Fauna & Flora and John got it reduced to $1,600 with one phone call. This time the "do it yourself" forgot about John. Just a word to the wise: if your shipping raw salted trophies, especially if it contains any CITES animal, swine or primates OF ANY KIND, get yourself a Broker. FYI: I'm not affiliated with any Broker(s). Just a word to the wise. Namibia's post pertains to mounted/finished trophies. Not as restricted as raw.
David

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