I hunted with a group in Botswana last summer -- all plains game. Our exporter is now telling us we can't ship our trophies out in the same crate:

"we have recent notification that USFWS/USDA is not allowing any combined trophy shipments for multiple hunters. We do not wish to run into any problems at the time of import and would therefore need to separate these trophies in order for each hunter to have his own set of documents per shipment."

Anyone else heard this?

Tried to combine with my son from a RSA hunt a couple of years ago and ran into the same thing. I think that rule has been in place for a while. Others experiences may vary, but that is how it has been on my 2 trips to Africa. Bruce

Each consignment must go to a single named individual and the reason for that is the authorities know who to prosecute if there's something in there that shouldn't be..... and as has been said, the requirement has been in place for a good number of years.

Yes that has been the norm for a few years.

There have been hunters who put all the trophy's in one hunters name. to combine shipments back to the states.

However, If you have any CITES trophy's be careful. Or any trophy that special permits were needed for.

A father - Son safari had all their trophy's shipped in one container. However they ran into issues with cites trophy's that they had. The shipment was in the fathers name and the paperwork for the cites animals were in the son's name. After working through their attorney they were able to forfeit the cites trophy's and received the others. In this process they did not receive a fine.

Got this reply from our customs broker in Denver:

In the case of multiple hunters, we can consolidate the trophies on a single Customs entry to help save on clearance costs. To do this, one hunter would have to agree to serve as the sole importer of record for Customs purposes. Be advised that this individual will assume all legal responsibility for the contents of the entire shipment and be subject to any and all fines, penalties, and forfeitures.

In this case, it sounds like you would act as the sole importer for this shipment.

While we can consolidate the trophies on a single Customs entry, US Fish & Wildlife does require that we file separate declarations for each hunter with trophies contained in the shipment (2 total). To file these declarations, it is helpful to have separate sets of export documents (export permits, vet certificates, etc.) for each hunter.

Rob

As least in 2008 I was advised the same thing--shipments can't be combined. I wanted to do so with a mate to save on shipping costs. The way to do so is to list all trophies under one name, send to that name's address, and sort it out upon arrival. That has been done, too, with no problems.
Cal

And I have been told as long as there is separate paperwork including export permits, import permits, etc. it is no problem to combine shipments to save on high rates. You might want to contact Lisa Jamnik at D&L in Chicago at lisaj@dlchb.com .

quote:

Originally posted by Ropati:
Got this reply from our customs broker in Denver:

In the case of multiple hunters, we can consolidate the trophies on a single Customs entry to help save on clearance costs. To do this, one hunter would have to agree to serve as the sole importer of record for Customs purposes. Be advised that this individual will assume all legal responsibility for the contents of the entire shipment and be subject to any and all fines, penalties, and forfeitures.

In this case, it sounds like you would act as the sole importer for this shipment.

While we can consolidate the trophies on a single Customs entry, US Fish & Wildlife does require that we file separate declarations for each hunter with trophies contained in the shipment (2 total). To file these declarations, it is helpful to have separate sets of export documents (export permits, vet certificates, etc.) for each hunter.

Rob

This is what I did. Me and my buddy each had a zebra rug, he had a tanned wildebeest, and I had a tanned oryx hide, all in the same crate. We each had documents in our names, with our trophies listed, and I was the "agent" of record so to speak. Coppersmiths cleared them for me no problem.

Not sure where is says in the USFWS regs that shipments cannot be combined. Several years ago I went to USFWS office at BWI airport and talked with the officer. He could not find anything that prohibited hunters sharing the same crate.

One hunter must clear the crate and have permission from the other hunters. To date I have cleared 4 shipments, (2 from SA and 2 from Zim) that have been combined with guys I hunted with.

http://www.huntingreport.com/w...te.cfm?articleid=662



Botswana Trophy Shipment Delays Should Be Resolved

(posted June 12, 2014)

If you hunted in Botswana last year and US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has delayed the clearing of your trophy shipment, check back with your clearing agent as the situation should be resolved now.

Last week, The Hunting Report received several reports about delayed clearing of Botswana trophies because USFWS agents were holding the shipments to verify that they were legally taken hunting trophies. One particular shipment had been held long enough that significant storage fees had been incurred. Reasons for the problem included a report that a former CITES officer in Botswana had requested the verifications, but it seems that a mistake in a USFWS press release may have caused officers at various US ports of entry to flag shipments from that country.

The press release in question was the April 4 USFWS announcement regarding the suspension of elephant imports from Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It mistakenly stated that hunting in Botswana was closed when it listed other countries with huntable elephant populations. That is apparently the statement that caused agents inspecting trophy imports to flag shipments from Botswana. The problematic statement has since been corrected thanks to Debbie Peake, director of Mochaba Developments in Botswana. Peake was able to get the office of the Director of Wildlife and Parks in Botswana to verify in writing that hunting for non-CITES listed plains game on private game farms is legal and unaffected by the moratorium on hunting in Botswana's Controlled Hunting Areas.

If you have a shipment that is still being delayed, contact Peake at Debbie@mochaba.net so she can assist your import broker with the documentation to get your trophies released. - Barbara Crown, Editor

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