[ILL-L] Returning ILL to Canadian Library

[Tom Bruno]

Is there a copy of the Attention Revenue Canada statement in PDF format
somewhere?  We send a lot of material back and forth over the Canadian
border and our own documentation, while effective most of the time,
sometimes ends up incurring duties at the receiving institution.  We've
noticed that this has been happening more often recently.  Have other
libraries experienced similar customs woes when shipping to Canada?  We've
also experienced the same situation this year when delivering items to Italy
and Israel.

My understanding is that since these charges are brokered by third-party
companies, many Canadian libraries and archives won't see these bills until
upwards of 3-4 months after receipt.  Large institutions that expect to pay
a certain amount in duties will often pay these bills as a matter of course
(from acquisitions, international book sales, etc.) without noticing that a
couple of ILL charges slipped in there, but smaller libraries with less
financial wiggle room might not, at which point it's effectively too late to
do anything about the charges.  Worse yet, we suspect that there are some
libraries out there who have just been assuming that these duties charges
are part of the deal, and quietly paying them without question!

We've decided that the 100% foolproof way to prevent these charges is to
have FedEx charge *us* if duty is assessed, and then keep refining our
international shipping until this isn't a problem any more.  It means that
avoiding customs will always be a moving target and that we'll have to eat
the difference as we troubleshoot, but given what we already charge for
international lending we want to make sure that good service is included in
that sticker price.

Best,
Tom Bruno
Head of Interlibrary Loan
Widener Library




2008/10/6 aslill, aslill (EED sponsored) <aslill at alaska.gov>

>  We often mail items to Canada. We use both the customs form and the
> Attention Revenue Canada statement. The first makes the U.S.Customs happy,
> the second is for the Canadian system.
>
> Becky Orford
>
> Interlibrary Loan
> Alaska State Library
> P. O. Box 110571
> Juneau, AK  99811-0571
>
> e-mail: aslill at alaska.gov
>
> Fax:  907-465-2665
>
> http://library.state.ak.us
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of Schwartz, Andrea
> Sent: Mon 10/6/2008 7:12 AM
> To: ill-l at webjunction.org
> Subject: [ILL-L] Returning ILL to Canadian Library
>
> Hi all!
>
> A library in Canada very nicely shipped us microfiche for a patron's
> request.  Now I've got to send it back.  They sent along the form that says
> "Attention Revenue Canada / Tarriff 9813.00.00 or 9814.00.00 / GST Code 66 /
> Property of X Library / Material returned on Interlibrary Loan"  which I
> think I need to affix to the outside of the package-right?
>
> My mailroom also wants me to fill out USPS form #2976 - a USPS Customs
> Declaration.  Is this necessary? I'm just worried it will somehow delay the
> item being returned to the Canadian Library.  If I do fill it out, I gather
> I should put "no commercial value" on the form where it asks for value?
>
> Any guidance appreciated.
>
> Andrea Schwartz
> Bloomsburg University
> Andruss Library, Interlibrary Loan
> 570-389-4218 (voice)
> 570-389-3895 (fax)
>
>
>
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>
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