I have a handful of shoulder mounts coming next June from Namibia. The question is: Do I just get a Port Exemption and clear them myself in Denver or hire a broker here in the States to clear them?

You will need to doublecheck to be certain that Denver is one of the ports at which the Fish&Wildlife Service has inspectors to clear your trophy shipment. I just looked at the Interior Dept website and it looks as if Dallas is the closest "designated" port of entry. (Aren't the Jonas Bros taxidermists in Denver? They can surely tell you.) You'd best get in touch with your Namibian taxidermist (Reiser or Trophaendienste??) and sort the U.S. destination ASAP. You risk their going to New York or Seattle if you don't.

I am close to Baltimore and BWI airport is a designated port. So far I've had a customs broker do most of the paperwork for about $100 then I drive up, pick up the paperwork and go to the FWS and Customs (yes, it's both) at the cargo side of the airport and load the trophies into my Subaru, saving on shipping charges at least. Believe you can do it all if you get the ORIGINAL papers sent to you.

Regards

I have checked with the USF&W and I can get finished products cleared in Denver with a simple Port Exemption Permit ($100) This should save some monies on frieght charges. I was just wondering how hard is it to do the paperwork and clear them myself?

Forget the broker. You just need a letter "To Whom It May Concern" stating that the shipment is personal hunting trophies of no commercial value. This you take with the export papers (which should be with your shipment) to customs. F&G needs to stamp the papers...here in PDX you call them ahead of time with the AWB, they go look, then they meet you at customs and everything happens at the same time. You then get a piece of paper from customs that says you can load your shipment, you take that to the warehouse, pay them their $25, and load up.

The only time you need a broker is if the value of the shipment exceeds $5000...in that case a customs bond has to be posted and the paperwork gets a lot more complicated.

Russ,

Thanks, might save me some money and the time driving into downtown Baltimore to pick up papers from the Freight Forwarder.

Regards, Tim

Russ,
Thanks I think I will try clearing them myself.