Sounds potentially complicated! Here is my original question: A colleague will be traveling from Brazil to visit me and will be bringing some DNA samples. Does anyone have any experience with customs in this regard? I'm wondering if he'll need some letter from me or something like that to get the samples through customs. Thanks, Mike Here are the responses: Hi Mike, Every trip through customs can be different, but I suggest the following 1) have a copy of your permit from Brazil 2) have a letter from OSU saying who you are and what you are doing 3) have your university ID and business cards 4) Contact the US Fish and Wildlife law enforcement office at the airport where you will be clearing customs before you leave to explain who you are and when you will be returning with the samples 5) Fill out the USFWS form 3-777 and FAX or email it to the USFWS law enforcement office where you will be clearing customs 6) when you go through customs, show them your big stack of paperwork and tell them that USFWS is expecting you. USFWS will then meet you and clear your samples for import If your stuff is CITES, it's slightly more involved. Good luck Paul Hello Michael, Your friend need permission from IBAMA (Intituto Brasileiro de Meio Ambiente) for bring this DNA for you. He need contact this Brasilian institution and compleed many formularies. If he don´t make this, he and you will have big problems with federal police and Brazil governament. Alexandre Sebbenn Institut für Forestgenetik Forstpflanzenzüchtung, Bundesforshungsanstalt für Forst- und Holzwirtschaft (BHF), Sieker Landstrasse 2, D-22927, Grosshansdorf, Germany. Yes, borrowing specimens from a Brazilian museum was a big hassle, the biggest in completing my thesis. Borrowing 7 specimens required me to get the signature and "ID Number" of the vice-president of research for my university. I believe that this paperwork was a minimum for removing specimens from Brazil. It could be more difficult if DNA is involved. If you wish, I can forward you blank copies of the paperwork that I completed. Sincerely, Hume Douglas Carleton University Ottawa Canada Hi there, I have traveled a couple of times with DNA samples, both into an out of the USA, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand. (Note this was pre 911). When I have notified customs, I have declared it as "non-pathogenic, non-hazardous, non living biological material". The key is to not put any technical terms such as DNA etc... they will red flag it. I have also posted the DNA to myself with the same label as above which has also been fine and less stress... Hope this helps JD JD Swanson, Ph.D. Asst. Professor of Biology University of Central Arkansas Hi Mike, I've brought tissue samples back from Venezuela and Brazil before. The hard part is having permits to remove the tissues from Brazil, but the US customs people have never seemed to care. Depending on who he encounters, Customs, FDA, or Fish & Wildlife, they may request to see a letter or the permit from Brazil, but since the tissues are inert (preserved) there shouldn't technically be any problem. I've never carried any letters except from the country of origin, and I've never been asked for them. Just to save the hassle, however, I wouldn't recommend that he declare the tissues; why create a headache? ~Stu Willis Hi Mike! Be very careful with this. You will get lots of advice, but be warned that it depends not only on the taxon but also on the airport point of entry. I've never had problems with frog samples by coming in through Miami or even Newark, and brining a USF&W form 3-177 already filled out in advance, plus copies of collecting and export permits, PLUS calling ahead to the airport to let them know when I am coming in so they can have someone there waiting from Fish & Wildlife. more info: http://www.fws.gov/permits/ImportExport/ImportExport.shtml Good luck! Hi Michael, I am guessing your friend already has export permits, because Brazil is really tough on this matter. They enforce the CBD all the way. Import permits are needed for the US. The first I can think of is USFWS form 3-177 (http://www.fws.gov/le/pdffiles/3-177-1.pdf) at http://www.fws.gov/le/ImpExp/faqs.htm. Of course, CITES will be needed from both ends (Brazil and USA), if the organism is on a CITES Appendix. A letter describing the content of the samples and saying who are these samples for is always good to have. Cheers, sergios --------------------------- Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History HI MIke, as far as I know Brazil is EXTREMELY strict with these issues. You cannot collect anything and bring it out of Brazil, nor bring DNA out of the country (unless you are formally involved in some project with Brazilian scientists and have permits, but I am not familiar with the procedure here). They are really one of the stricter countries in this. mariapia _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Maria Pia Miglietta, Ph.D. Post Doctoral Fellow Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa, Panama Hi Mike I traveled from Brazil to US (port of entry Newark-NJ) with 22 DNA samples in two sets of .2 uL tubes and had no problems. The tubes were into my checked bag. This was pre-911, though. I believe if he travels with documentation and especially copies of licenses in his name there will be no problem. I am not aware of the Brazilian legislation as I am out xxxx of the country for sometime. HTH Paulo Hello, I am Dragos Zaharescu, PhD student at the Univ. of Vigo, Spain. I was facing a similar problem when transporting sediment and water samples for analisys from Spain to London, UK and....I just used the certified mail service, and it worked out. Otherwise yes, he needs a proof of samples content not only from receiver institution but also from sender institution. With best wishes, Dragos Hi Mike, In response to your question below, If it is an animal species, you are likely to need USDA and maybe USFWS CITES permits to import and an export permit from Brazil. And I'm pretty sure all plant species still require export permits. Does the individual have the proper export permits and an import permit (if needed)? A letter from you would also be helpful but would not replace the necessary permits. We have projects in Europe and South America and deal with importation challenges a lot. I have never been able to import any samples from brazil due to their very strict policy on allowing genetic samples to leave the county (as a protection against bioprospecting). Customs is quite tough on this and I've had students get stopped even with all the proper permits because the officers were not certain about compliance and had to call a vet and other authorities. I also have colleagues who have sent samples without the permits (since it seems to take forever) and have been legally prosecuted and lost research permits, so it is pretty important to check on the permitting issues. Lisette Hi Mike, I went from Ecuador to Europe with American Airlines and transpoting plant DNA (post 9/11). They basically wanted to know if there was any inflamable products that came with the DNA tubes, but otherwise there was no problem (I did keep it in my hand luguage). That is related directly to the company. Now, you should have a look at the law in Barzil for exporting DNA of plants or animals. There are very very strict in Brazil, part of there biodiversity protection program. You would need a certificate or a permit. Nowadays, illeagal exprotation of DNA material could lead to a lot of problems. I know people who landed on trial for exporting Orchid DNA... You should check, or your colleague with local authorities. The letter should come from local authorities not from you. Hope this helps. Bye Thomas Couvreur Dear Mike, Below is an year-old email reply from a fellow grad student regarding shipping specimens rather than going through customs. Some countries prohibit native genetic material from leaving the country, which Eben refers to below. I'm interested in the replies you receive and hope you post them on evoldir. Best wishes, Allegra -- Allegra Briggs Graduate student, Kimmerer lab Romberg Tiburon Center, San Francisco State University ----- Forwarded message from eben@sfsu.edu ----- Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 16:41:19 -0800 From: eben@sfsu.edu Reply-To: eben@sfsu.edu Subject: Re: international shipping of specimens To: allegra@sfsu.edu hey there, my former supervisor tried to get dead birds out of china. very very difficult. he gave up. In India, we just did PCRs in a hotel room. Once product has been amplified with synthetic nucleotides it's no longer subject to the native genetic resources clause, at least in the case of india. so maybe you'll just have to go there, bring a thermal cycler and taq and primers and dntps and sterile water. it's fun, trust me. Mike, you will need an import permit for biologicals. Clarify with USDA and CDC. CDC is the problematic address. They see a human disease threat in anything that is biological and comes from the tropics. Add beta-propiolactone to inactivate samples in viruses. Good luck from NY, Stefan. * Stefan M. Klose Hi Mike, I can fill a book with tell many horrible stories of international travels of DNA... I found that the best way is to dry the DNA completely (I used vacuum centrifuge) - preferably until no sign is seen. If there is a white pellet it looks suspicious. The delivery should be accompanied with a letter as the sample I attach. Perhaps two letters - one from your colleague's institute, and one from yours. The customs people must be convinced that it is just DNA without any commercial and/or hazardous issues in it. The best strategy is not to declare about it, and if there is a detailed inspection of the bag, then to present this letter. It is not smuggling because there is nothing forbidden there. Good luck! Yuval Hi Mike- It can be pretty hit-or-miss depending on the taxa and the customs agent. Your colleague will most likely need a US Fish and Wildlife Import Permit (FWS Form 3-177). When we brought fish samples back from Palau, once we said the samples fish, the customs agents in Hawaii didn't really care too much, but still checked our permits. However, I've heard of people having horror stories with having tissues confiscated due to the lack of proper paperwork. If any of the taxa are CITES listed, it makes life even more complicated. Hope this helps. Aaron Not sure what I said pertains to DNA... (was thinking tissues) DNA should be easier... maybe just the APHIS? Hi, Mike! Having recently travelled to Australia with some crocodile clones I can say that we didn't need a permit to enter Australia as long as we were bringing in "synthetic DNA". It will vary country by country on both the leaving end and the arriving end. Some species' DNA is NEVER allowed to leave a country and every country has different rules for what they'll allow in. You should contact the relevant customs offices. Julie -- Julie Weston Michael Blouin Dept. Zoology Oregon State University Tel: 541-737-2362 Fax: 541-737-0501 http://oregonstate.edu/~blouinm/index.htm blouinm@science.oregonstate.edu