With all the horror stories of overcharging and padded fees. How about somebody that has done it give us some insight on clearing our own shipments. I will be bringing in my stuff to ATL and live about 4 hours away. Any help would be appeciated. Thanks.

I would also be interested. My stuff is coming into Atlanta about August. I live about 6 hours away but have family there that could pick up the crate.

Okay, I'll give it a shot. I used Coppersmith to clear a shipment from Africa a couple of years ago, and had to go through the telephone negotiations to get my bill down over $300 in fees. Decided then next time I'd try it myself.

IMHO, if you're ok with handling paperwork and governmental processes, this won't be hard (I'm a tax accountant, so used to it). On the other hand, if you're impatient, get easily flustered with govt employees, or live far away from the port of entry, you might be better off using an agent.

I cleared a shipment of trophies from Argentina about five months ago. I live in Dallas and cleared at the DFW port.

Three of us hunted, and all trophies were shipped in my name. Do that if possible. It appears a lot easier to clear things in your own name, if you can do that. You might save shipping charges that way, too. Talk to your outfitter to see what can be done in his particular experience.

Your origin shipping agent, be it the taxidermist or whomever, should email you when the shipment is ready to go, and supply the flight numbers, etc.. Be sure that you have supplied your outfitter with full contact info: phone numbers, address, and importantly, email address. The origin agent will also give you at least an idea of the shipping charges and any handling or processing fees charged at their end for dipping, packing, etc. You'll either pay that agent, usually via credit card, or the charges will be collect.

Next, give the USFWS a call to find out where they're located (they're right across the street from my carrier's terminal at DFW). Also, tell them what species you're bringing in to see if there are any special hoops you'll have to jump thru which may take more time. Finally, ask them where you'll have to go for customs clearance.

Make sure that you have the shipper mark the airbill to call on arrival. When the shipment arrives at its port of entry, the receiving air freight company will call you at the telephone number on the airbill. When you get that call from the carrier (yay!), head on out to the airport as soon as you can. The carriers will charge extra if you leave the stuff there for more than a business day or so...ask them when they call if you can't pick it up right away. Oh, and ask them what the cube is of the crate(s) if they have it ... you probably won't want to take an SUV to handle this stuff, the crates are usually bigger than you'd imagine.

Give yourself plenty of time to clear the shipment (2-3 hours at least, altho I was in and out in 45 min). Note that the consignee (you)or your legally appointed representative has to accept delivery and do the clearance stuff (I wouldn't wish this on an unsuspecting family member anyway).

Your first stop will be the carrier to pick up the paperwork USFWS needs and to pay any add'l charges that are left on the shipment end. I had to pay a small charge to the freight agency for handling to their terminal...they had already picked it up from the airline. This was the only money I had to pay for anything during the clearance process...it was either $20 or $50, don't remember. They'll keep the trophies til you're finished with all the running around.

Then, go to USFWS to get the required forms and clearance procedures done. The carrier's paperwork package should include the required forms from the origin point showing the species, treatments, etc. Different species require different things done by USFWS. I brought in animals that were apparently 'easy' so there was no delay. The agent told me that if there are 'harder' species coming in it might be a good idea to get the paperwork to them the day before, since they might have to have an agent physically inspect the items. Duh...either another trip to the airport or [better] just arrive earlier in the day. That's why the call to USFWS beforehand is important.

After the USFWS clearance, you'll have to go to Customs to declare and pay any duty on the items. In Dallas, the Customs office is about 10 min from the USFWS office (it's also the same place you go for 4457's). Take the paperwork in, the agent stamps it (I didn't have to pay anything) and you're on your way back to the carrier's terminal.

Give the completed paperwork to the carrier, back up to the dock, and load up ! Oh, check for damaged crates before you accept them.

Like I said, I was in and out in about 45 min. The procedures above were what I did, your mileage may vary. Main thing is to make the phone calls before the shipment arrives if you can to scope out the specifics of where to go.

Good luck with the process.

PostDriver has it nailed. I did it myself last year. My trophies were shipped into Baltimore. I did the clearance through USDA and USFWS myself, and found the agents to be pleasant and helpful. If you are of average intelligence and have the time, you can easily do it yourself.

GA SIXGUNNER,

I really don't see why you would want to be involved with the whole process. It is a RPITA. Before you go on safari contact a taxidermist who specializes in African mounts. He will help you with the whole process from making sure you have the right CITES permits to handling all the shipping and clearing details. He will give you shipping tags to give to the PH so he can have a tag atached to each cape and each skull. The tags will have all the shipping info. If everything goes as it should your only involvement in the trophy shipping should be writing a check to your taxidermist when he tells you the trophies have arrived. He will deal with all the middle men.

Regards,

Mark

quote:

your only involvement in the trophy shipping should be writing a check

I believe that would be so,"IF" evrything goes well.By own experience it pays to be knowlegable and informed-even if you farm the job out.These are your trophies- nobody really cares but you - think about that.
In addition you apparently save quite a bit by importing stuff yourself.I always did it that way with Canadien stuff and believe the process is the same.
I stood away from primate relatives and swine in my african hunt and will clear the trophies myself from LA airport whenever they choose to arrive.

Dont believe in paying folks for stuff I can do myself with ease.

A couple of notes.

As said above, swine and primates require special permits/procedures that should be done in advance.

Trophies can only be cleared at these airports:

Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York/Newark, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle.

In January of this year Houston, Louisville, and Memphis were also added to the designated port status.

You should plan on it possibly taking more than one day, if USFW want to inspect your trophies. You should contact them ahead of time and tell them when your shipment is arriving so they can schedule an inspection if needed.

I cleared a shipment of tourist stuff from RSA which included a kudu skin shield (no hunting trophies) and the USFW guy was a real pain. He scolded me for not notifying him in advance so he could schedule an inspection of the shipment. Typical government employee on a power trip.

Regards,

Terry

Thanks for all the help. I think I will clear the stuff myself. There will be no swine or monkeys so that should help.