Taxacom: Vanuatu export permits

Fri Jul 19 11:48:21 CDT 2024

Hi Frank,

It is not really that much better in Costa Rica which is often cited as a good place.

A basic research permit and license costs you £165 which seems OK, but you will have no idea if you can get an export permit to take any specimens out of the country when you leave. It costs at least a further $50 to apply for the permit and you may not get it. So, you end up in the country, do your collecting and then find out that you cannot get an export permit. At the moment, to get an export permit you have to get a signed letter from the Museo Nacional that you have donated specimens resulting from your collecting to them. Fine if you collect large organisms that you can sort out on the spot, but not so good if you work on small insects that are collected by trapping, etc. and that can only be sorted once you have left the country. Apart from this problem you have to get this signed letter to SINAC BEFORE you can even apply for an export permit.  Added to that, the application requires a minimum of 30 days to get processed. This pretty much makes anything impossible unless you are willing to spend more than 30 days extra in the country after you have done your collecting. It is a Catch-22 situation. It may be possible to find someone to send material on to you once you have the export permit, but it can still be really complicated because even with the correct export permit you risk having everything confiscated at the border and subsequently destroyed [it happened to me]. Further to this, If you do not do all this in collaboration with a local institution then you have to get all documentation notarised and apostillated which will cost more, probably upwards of $1000.

If you want permission to extract DNA then you need to apply for a separate permit. This will set you back at least $300 and it will probably have to be notarised and apostillated, or signed in person at the SINAC offices in Costa Rica. It is a complex process, but probably the best deal for researchers who want to extract DNA from specimens and/or take students there over several years. Exporting specimens with this permit is easier as you do not have to agree to leave material at the University or National Museum before you leave the country.

Applying for either permit can be very tedious but the uncertainty of getting an export permit is a pain.

I have been going to Costa Rica more or less annually since 1990, but this year was my last because the whole process is getting too difficult, uncertain and expensive. Some local researchers are trying to get the process simplified but at the moment there does not seem to be too much movement in that direction from SINAC.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at lists.ku.edu> On Behalf Of Frank T. Krell via Taxacom
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2024 4:48 PM
To: John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com>; taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Subject: Re: Taxacom: Vanuatu export permits

Hi John,
Exaggerated fees are really frustrating. I am preparing a paper on regulations etc. affecting taxonomy/biodiversity research. Do you have a citable source for this fee? Or an official invoice or something that you could send me privately. I just have to make sure that statements and examples are backed up, otherwise I would shoot myself in the foot.
Thanks

Frank

Dr. Frank-Thorsten Krell

Senior Curator of Entomology, Editor-in-Chief Commissioner and Councillor, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature Department of Zoology Denver Museum of Nature & Science
2001 Colorado Blvd
Denver, Colorado 80205-5798, U.S.A.
Frank.krell at dmns.org
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Fax 303.331.6492
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-----Original Message-----
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at lists.ku.edu> On Behalf Of John Grehan via Taxacom
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2024 7:05 AM
To: taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Subject: Taxacom: Vanuatu export permits

No wonder there is a problem with biodiversity documentation and taxonomy.
If one wanted to send out even one specimen from Vanuatu it costs US $1,500 for an export permit. Probably fine for major institutions, but a trainwreck for anyone else. Quite frustrating.

John Grehan

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