Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2001 21:46:36 -0400
From: Mary E. S. O'Dea <snyderme_at_mediaone.net>
Subject: Question re. 'Import' of Books from Abroad.
Hello List,
I've been an acquisitions librarian for less than a year, and have a
question for those more experienced than I. It regards importing of books
into the U.S. from abroad.
I recently received a phone call from our local airport notifying me that we
had 'freight' (a large reference work), from one of our lesser-used
international vendors, which needed to be cleared through U.S. Customs. I
phoned a customs broker, and got the materials cleared and delivered to our
door at a cost of $375. Transporting the materials from the airport to our
library was $125 of the total cost.
This kind of thing has happened before, but I'm trying to figure out whether
there is a way in which it might be foreseen, and if possible, avoided.
Usually UPS or FedEx acts as our broker and we receive a bill from them for
the fee to clear the materials through U.S. Customs. In this case our
vendor didn't ask us how we would like the materials shipped, nor did we
give the vendor any special instructions in that regard.
My Questions:
1. Does anyone out there know whether there are any special instructions or
recommendations which I might give to a vendor, which might keep processing
and delivery simple and less expensive, but still legal?
2. Does anyone know what makes the difference between items which have to
be cleared through Customs and those which do not?
--I.e. is it a question of declared value? I have noticed that one of our
other vendors, who ordinarily ships us small items, sticks a huge label on
their manifest stating "For educational purposes only. Not for resale."
They then declare a value of 5 pounds sterling, even if we are being
invoiced for 60, or 200. I worked for several years for a company which
also did something like this, for shipments to Canada.
--Is it a question of weight/size? Our shipment weighed about 150 kg., and
consisted of about 7 cartons.
--Is it a question of the country of origin?
I've read what I could find on the U.S. Customs Website, and what was there
did not clarify any library-specific issues, or the situation with the
above-mentioned declared-value discrepancy.
I am not asking for legal advice, just a pragmatic example or two which
might point me in the right direction as far as what is appropriate to
request of our international vendors, and/or when I should just figure that
we're going to get another call from the airport and have to budget another
$375 into the cost of the item. Any insights anyone can offer would be most
appreciated.
Thank you all and best regards,
Mary O'Dea
Acquisitions Librarian
The Newberry Library
www.newberry.org
(*Not writing from work.*)
Received on Tue Oct 23 2001 - 14:59:51 EDT