[ILL-L] Customs value when sending a loan overseas

[Joe Ellison]

At 02:23 PM 7/17/2007, you wrote:
>Dear Brian,
>
>Thank you for raising this issue. We frequently request books from 
>USA libraries and have encountered problems whenever the lending 
>library writes their standard replacement charge on the customs 
>form. If there is a value of anything from $1 to $100, the item is 
>intercepted by our customs who then charge us an extra couple of $ 
>to release the parcel. When the lending library writes the value as 
>$0 there are no problems.
>We have tried approaching inidividual libraries when this problem 
>occurs, but so far, to no avail.
>
>If a book gets lost, the lending library is entitled to charge us 
>their replacement cost, no matter what is written on the customs form.
>
>Lynne Porat
>
>Head, Interlibrary Loan Team, University of Haifa Library
>Mt. Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel tel. 972-4-8240529 fax 972-4-8249146 
>email: porat at univ.haifa.ac.il

There's a distinction between customs value and insurance value. The 
online customs forms available on the USPS web site require the entry 
of a value of at least $1 for any package, as do the forms in the 
Fedex ship manager. I generally enter that $1 value, and a 
description of "book, international loan between libraries, no 
commercial value", abbreviated as necessary to fit the available 
space, and then put a sticker on the package with the same wording. 
(If I could write legibly in the very small size needed to fit all 
the required information on the paper USPS customs forms, I'd use 
them and avoid the $1 value issue.) Shipments to Canada get a sticker 
with the wording required by their customs regulations:

ATTN: REVENUE CANADA
TARIFF/TARIF 9993.00.00
GST/TPS CODE 51
INTERNATIONAL LOANS BETWEEN LIBRARIES
(INTERNATIONAL ACT OF 1978)
NO COMMERCIAL VALUE:
ANY VALUE STATED IS FOR INSURANCE PURPOSES ONLY

Because of the way our mailing is handled, I'm unable to request 
insurance for anything sent air mail, so I'm content to enter that $1 
value and rely on the borrowing library to pay appropriate 
replacement fees for any lost items.

Joe Ellison


Joe Ellison
Document Delivery Assistant, Transportation Library (OCLC symbol JCR)
Northwestern University Library, 1970 Campus Dr.
Evanston, IL  60208-2300
phone: (847)491-8600, fax: (847)491-8601
j-ellison at northwestern.edu
ARIEL: 129.105.19.35 or staff019035.library.northwestern.edu
Visit the Transportation Library: 
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation