shipping rules/laws US 2 CDA & vise versa

[C.ADAMANTEUS]

Just curious, are there any special laws, or prohibitions regarding the shipment of herps to/ from Canada/US?
Just asking cause I tried some time back to purchase a BCC Col. from a CDN site, (BEFORE i found ssnakess), and was told he could not ship to US.
Is it just too costly? or are there intervening laws?
Rick

[Golden_Lotus]

Agriculture Canada (importation of animals)
Fish and games (protected species indigenous to USA)
CITES (international commerce of endangered species)

Boas are protrected bye CITES. Need special paper to traverse a frontiers. 3 levels (I, II, III). Quasi-impossible if it is CITES I (very protected). I think bci are cites II, so neede the CITES
paper.

[Stockwell]

US IMPORT/EXPORT INFO
Everybody please save this for future reference.

For Americans shipping out/receiving into the USA:
All animals leaving or entering the USA must be inspected by US fish & wildlife
This is generally done at what is known as a designated port.
If you are not located at a designated port you must contact your
local branch of F &W and arrange an inspection.
At this point a document called a 3-177 will be
completed. It is a declaration of import/export of wildlife.
This must be done with all animals regardless of whether they
are listed under the Washington Convention (CITES)
It is also possible and fairly common to have animals shipped first to a designated
port for inspection and clearance, before heading on to the consignee. This is done
when the shipper or recipient in the US is not near a designated port.. It can however, sometimes
get complicated and expensive because a broker can
be required to transfer the shipment and arrange for fish&wildlife inspection.
This is especially true if different air carriers are involved since Airlines are not obliged to move your cargo, especially into the hands of a competitive Airline. So if you need to hire a broker this can mean that
your animals are being put into the hands of a middle man who might
very well hate herps(or love them and steal your shipment). It's a bit scary to have someone opening your
animals in the middle of their journey to your customer.

If the animals are CITES listed and are Appendix 2 you need to apply
To the US department of the interior/F&W for a CITES
export permit. This must then be stamped by a wildlife
agent at the time of the inspection otherwise the permit
is not valid...
You will also now need (since I think bout 97) a US fish and wildlife
IMPORT EXPORT license... you need to apply for it.
It is $50.00 and is good for only one year. If you are not
getting your inspection at a Designated port you may also
be required to apply for what's called an "Exception from Designated Port"permit
It's about $25US bucks and is good for 2 years.

For Canadians taking animals into or out of the USA
If you are taking animals across the border in a car, you need to apply for and obtain this US fish and wildlife IMPORT EXPORT license... and yes
also the exception from designated port permit if you have more than just a few animals.
You must phone US F&W in advance and arrange for an inspection 48 hrs before you cross. An agent will be dispatched to the crossing of your choice(Niagara in Ont.). You will be charged for the inspection..$55US standard, more if its CITES or outside of business hours. A 3-177 declaration will need to be completed at the time of the inspection… I recommend pre ordering this form from US F&W and filling them out ahead of time. It makes the wildlife agents happy and you are more likely to know the Scientific names, which must be shown on the declaration.
It's also helpful to take a book with pictures to help verify the species.
If you are taking a lot of stuff into the US for personal delivery
or to fly out of an American airport it may be considered a commercial shipment
and this will also require a Customs Broker...I use PBB. (Peace Bridge Brokers)
Also, if you are taking CITES listed animals out of Canada you must first apply for and obtain a Canadian CITES Export permit. You will be required to prove legal origin to be granted this permit.
Before crossing the border, you must first stop on the Canadian side and get Customs to validate it, otherwise it is not a legal CITES permit.
Hope this all helps

[C.ADAMANTEUS]

Uncle Roy
DAMMMN. sounds like a whole lot of heart ache. seems as though youve done this before.
Crossing the border in car going north, is it the same as canadian coming south by car? Or if I was just traveling through on way to Alaska. Its all the same?
thanks for the help
Rick

[Golden_Lotus]

Thank, there are more infos than I had before. I will save this information.

I know than Agriculture Canada put some other restriction/interdictions. Particulary about turtles and many inferior animals (including the majority of arthropodes).

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/import/petse.shtml

[justinO]

basically, it's pretty easy to send animals TO the US, but hard to send them FROM the US into Canada.

[Invictus]

Roy, I was wondering if you could expand on this statement:

You will be required to prove legal origin to be granted this permit.

How exactly would one prove legal origin?

[Jeff_Favelle]

How exactly would one prove legal origin?


The original CITES document when either the animal itself, or the animal's parents were imported.

[Invictus]

What if the parents were captive bred?

[Jeff_Favelle]

Trace it back to when their grandparents or whatever were imported. If you can't, then you can't prove you have legally-obtained specimens. CITES and the government doesn't care if you own them, but they do care when you try to move them across international borders (hence C. International T.E.S). If you can't prove it, then too bad for you. If you're gonna deal in very rare (Appendix II) or you KNOW you're going to export out of Canada, then do your homework and paperwork when you buy. You can still apply for paperwork without original import papers, but you can be declined.