question for British colleagues

[John Bruner]

On Sat, 13 Mar 1999, Allison Anderson wrote:
> I need some help/advice from somebody in the UK.  I recently sent 2
> shipments of preserved specimens to museums in England, and my shipper
> (Airborne Express) charged me Import VAT and something called "Deferment
> Use" for the insured amount.  The shipping label and package were clearly
> marked "Preserved Scientific Specimens--No Commercial Value."  My question
> is, aren't scientific specimens exempt from such import duties?
> If someone could send me the citation for the rule or regulation, I'd be
> very grateful.  For example, a US import could claim exemption under the
> U.S. Customs Harmonized Tariff Schedule subchapter 9810.00.70, which
> specifies that wild animals sent between scientific institutions for
> scientific use are duty-free.
> Allison Anderson
> Collection Manager, Texas Natural History Collection
> Texas Memorial Museum, University of Texas
> PRC 176/10100 N. Burnet Rd.
> Austin, Texas 78758 USA
Allison,
        You should have declared a value of $1.00 but insured it for
whatever amount you wished.  Since the scientific specimens cannot be
replaced, they really are noninsurable, but that is another story.  What
happened when your specimens reached the Happy Kingdom, is that you were
charged taxes and/or brokerage fees based on the insured value.  The same
thing happens to me when I return specimens borrowed from USA museums when I
return loans.  I am charged an entry fee by the customs broker at the border
based on the insured value. Some shipping firms such as UPS have woefully
uniformed workers who will tell you that you must put the same amount for
the declared value as the insured value.  THIS IS WRONG!
As long as you do not put in the value amount "zero", you can put in any
declared value.  For items less than $20 USA coming into the USA, you do not
usually have to pay any entry fees.  Ii is pretty much the same all over the
world now.
        Note, when a collection manager in the USA sends me a shark jaw and
insures it for $1000, I have to pay $70 in GST taxes to the Canadian
government based on that insured value.
        John
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*   Mr. John Clay Bruner                                     *
*   Department of Biological Sciences                        *
*   University of Alberta                                    *
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